


P.E Teacher

by Madison



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Age Difference, Double Dating, Drama, F/M, Romance, Teacher-Student Relationship, Time Travel, double trouble, two kougas
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-06
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2018-11-28 18:23:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 42,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11423571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madison/pseuds/Madison
Summary: Jewel hunting, time travels, demons and past lives. Who would have thought that the most interesting part of her day would be her P.E class?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Maddie, stop attacking us with horrible stories.  
> Never.

_Sleep_ , sweet, sweet sleep.

It was all she could dream about as she stood in line with the other girls. It was her first time coming home in _weeks_ and her return was not even about taking a long, warm bath. Nope. It was not even about sleeping in her own comfortable bed either. Nope. It was all about a stupid _running_ test she had to pass. It would determine her entire grade - and if she failed, she could miss graduation and have to start all over again. She had not been carrying heavy books around the Feudal Era just to _not_ graduate high school. Her mission on the other side of the well was important, but her life here held just as much meaning.

"Alright, as you all know, Mr. Hatsumi is on a sick leave…"

 _She did not know_. Then again. _Wince_. When was the last time she even showed up for P.E? It was the only class she skipped with full confidence that she was not going to miss anything.

"To replace him, we have Mr. Tanaka."

She tried to peek above the crowd, hoping to get a glimpse of the man who was about to determine if she graduated high school or not, but it was to no prevail. She was not tall enough and the crowd was too big and spread out, causing it block her entire field of vision.

"Kagome, over here!"

She turned her head only to see Ayumi waving at her from afar. Kagome gave her a shy smile and walked in her direction, a sense of relief washing over her; she would not be alone to go through this torture. It was surprising that after a year of constant disappearance, the girls remained her friends. She would have seen it coming if they had dumped her like old sac of potatoes. But they were loyal friends - even if she could not share parts of her life with them. Then again, it was nice sometimes to have a conversation that did not revolve around the feudal era or youkais. Sometimes, she just wanted to be a teenager.

"Hey."

"Are you ready?"

"Yea, are you better since — hm, what were you sick with again?"

"Pneumonia?" Kagome tried.

"Wasn't that last time?"

"No, I think it was this time."

Maybe she needed to be present at school a little more often. It was just that they were always traveling far from the well, and she did not want to be constantly asking for rides back to the well. It was a bother and it slowed everyone down. Sango and Miroku also had things to gain from Naraku's destruction and she simply could not drag them down with her. Getting revenge on the man who killed - slaughtered actually - your entire village seemed a little more important than _I have a math quizz_.

"I'll be fine," she finally said, hoping to divert the conversation in another direction.

Plus, she was always running for her life in the middle of the woods. How hard would it be to pass this little test? She was probably more in shape now than she had ever been before.

"Kasumi Taisho."

They were starting to call the girls. Kagome crossed her arms in front of her chest, hoping that changing her posture would help her stay awake. The moon had been quite up high in the sky by the time she had reached the well and part of her felt it was the sun that had been in the sky by the time she reached her bed. She had blinked and suddenly, it had been morning. It did not matter. All she had to do was get through this one exam and then, she could go home, get a bath, maybe a nice night of sleep. It all depended on how patient Inuyasha was going to be.

And usually, when it came to her schooling - he was not patient at all.

"Yuri Satoshi."

"That's me," Yuri chimed as she walked away from the ground.

Uncomfortable, Kagome pulled downwards her little burgundy short; did they have to be this small?

"Maybe we could go shopping after school," Eri suggested as she watched her friend get ready for her run.

"Oh, that would be a good idea," Ayumi pitched in. "What do you think Kagome?"

Bath. Sleep. Bed. Those were the only things she was thinking about right now. _However_ , she had not been the greatest friend lately. Maybe she could satisfy some of her personal comfort for the sake of friendship. Plus, some girl time was a luxury she barely had these days. How could say no? "Sure, why not."

Eri threw her arms in the air, celebrating a _rare_ yes from Kagome. " _Wee!_ It's gonna be so much fun."

"Kagome Higurashi."

"My turn," she said with a frown. _It was time to walk to her death_.

"Come on, you'll do great," Eri said, hoping to encourage her. Their friend's health had been all over the place lately but every time they saw her, she looked fine. It was the weirdest thing.

Kagome dragged her feet slowly, all the way to front of the line. Apparently, she was not walking fast enough for the new P.E teacher. "Kagome Higurashi," he called out again.

She scrounged up her nose; she knew that voice no? "I'm here," she said as she pushed her through two much taller girls.

"K-Kagome?"

She raised an eyebrow while slowly raising her head. Was the new teacher a deaf old man? "Yes, I said I'm h-" And she found that she could not finish her sentence.

Two icy blue eyes were staring at her, lips parted, nearly gaping. It could not be. But…The long swaying brown hair wrapped into a ponytail. The brown sport bands around the wrist that reminded her of wolf fur. And that mouth - she would recognize it anywhere. The fact that he was also staring at her like he had seen a ghost _kind_ of confirmed that it was… _Kouga_. Kouga in modern time. Not, traveling through the well Kouga who decided let's be a P.E teacher. No. No. Because that would be insane. No, it was actually five hundred years later Kouga. Standing in front of her - gaping at her as though he were a fish.

But that was not possible..

Of all the impossible things that was the most impossible of them all.

"It's my turn right?"

She turned away from him as rapidly as possible. _Her heart was thundering_. There were so many questions and none of them could be asked or answered in that exact moment. She wanted the crowd to disappear, to fade away but it remained present and loud. She had to ask him _how_ and _when_ \- and oh my god _who_. She felt her face going through a million of emotions and yet, she had to keep it all bottled up. Instead of dwelling on matters she could not deal with immediately, she walked to the starting line with shaky legs. _She could do that_. This did not change anything. She simply needed to get through to the finish line and this moment would be over.

Easy peasy.

Then - then she could deal with this.

Except, fate was never kind to her, and her luck was not about to change today. Her mind was distracted, her attention was focused on something else. _And so_ , Kagome never noticed that her shoelace came undone. As she walked to the starting line, she stumbled, landing face first on the ground. A loud thud echoed through and she could see nothing but the color of the ground. She did however feel a hand on her shoulder. It appeared that the sudden fall had snapped Kouga out of his trance. He had put a hand on her shoulder and was helping her up.

"Kagome, _you okay_?" He was talking to her too familiarly - but he did not care. Not yet.

She nodded as she winced. She managed to sit up - this time on her ass rather than on her face - and she groaned as she looked down at her knee; _it was bloody_. What a good way to make an impression.

The scent of blood hit Kouga's nose and he frowned. "Alright, guys," he said as he turned to look at the crowd. "We'll resume the tests tomorrow." Was he allowed to do that? He did not even fucking know. All he knew was that he was staring at _Kagome_ and she was injured. Fuck everything else. Also, he had about a million questions for her. But they would wait - they had to take care of that blood first.

He swooped his arms around her - much like he had done many times in the Feudal Era - and he lifted her off the ground. "I'm taking you to the infirmary," he said, avoiding her eyes.

The close proximity allowed Kagome to notice that though it was _Kouga_ , it was not _her_ Kouga. This one was much older, much calmer and in control of himself. There were also some signs of time, a few wrinkles, a stray grey hair. Nothing that made him look in his late thirties or anything but still. He was no longer a sixteen years old looking cub. And it was strange. She hid her face away, hoping he had not caught her staring. This was strange and she did not know how to handle the emotions bubbling inside of her. Youkais had made it. _Kouga_ had made it. _It was not like they were close friends or anything_ but - but it did make her happy.

 _Kouga_ was here.

And he carrying her away to safety in his arms.

Some things never did change.

-P-

"A little scratch but that's it!"

The nurse was smiling as she applied the bandage on Kagome's head. She had cleaned the blood off in an instant, and now she was wrapping things up. The injury was not bad; Kouga should have probably never taken her in and yet he had. She had gotten worse injuries in the feudal era and she had lived through them. But, it was hardly his fault. He was already under an immense shock from seeing her and he had about a million questions for her. It was normal that he panicked slightly at the sight of blood. _Perfectly normal_. Which was why he was going to ignore the stare he was getting from the nurse.

Way to make an impression on the first day.

"There, you're good to go," she said as she pressed on the bandage one more time.

"Thank you," Kagome uttered as she avoided Kouga's glance.

What an entrance.

"I'll take her back to class," Kouga said after clearing his throat.

"Now, be careful where you step," the nurse teased with a smile.

"I will," Kagome shyly replied as she stood back up, forcing her to stand beside Kouga. "Thank you."

"My pleasure."

She turned around and Kouga followed her to the hallway. She could hear his every step echoing on the ceramic floor, his presence lurking near her body. Her heart was hammering in her chest as she was at a loss for words. What in the world could she possibly ask him? How it was possible for him to believe her? At least she had a better grasp on the situation than he did… although…. How it was that Inuyasha never smelled a single youkai in modern japan? She imagined that before she could even ask him any questions, he would have a few of his own. _And she would answer_.

"So." What was he supposed to ask first? "You look young for being five hundred years old."

She chuckled. A joke was always a good way to break the tension. "I wish." She was not used to be able to be herself on this side of the well. She had to constantly hide and lie. "Do you believe in time travel?"

"I think I'm gonna need to sit down for this one," he said as he opened the door to their left. "Maybe my office is a better place for this?"

She nodded as she glanced around the hallway, slightly nervous. She did not need people to think she was crazier than they already thought. Privacy was required for this one if she did not want to be locked up for being _looney_. She followed him inside of his temporary office and he closed the door behind her. And then the tale began.

An hour.

It was how long it took her to catch him up on her life since the day she fell in the well. He remained mostly silent during her entire tale, listening with eyes wide open. She figured he was saving his questions for the end - although part of her was hoping that he would not have any questions at all. Once she was done, she let herself sunk into the chair as though a weight had been lifted off of her chest. It was different. People in the feudal era did not understand the modern era, so she could not explain it to them properly. And the only people she could tell on this side of the well were her family, and they did not know enough about the Feudal Era to understand either. Kouga… he was different. _This Kouga_ belonged in both worlds. He understood. She searched his face for questions or worries but she found nothing.

"So, Inuyasha is also a time traveler huh."

She shrugged. "Not exactly." What was Inuyasha? "I don't know why he's the only one who can." She knew a lot of time had passed but for her, Inuyasha and Kouga were not friends. She figured things had changed over the years but still… Plus she _had_ to tell him about Inuyasha. What if he showed up to her school like he had done many times in the past and spotted Kouga. That did bring forth a question. "Why couldn't he sense you? Or smell you?"

Kouga raised his right hand, showing her a metal bracelet clasped on his wrist. "Glamour spell."

That did explain the lack of fangs and pointy ears. "And can I ask how you ended up as a P.E teacher?" She pinched her lips, trying to hold back a laughter.

"Come on, I'm sure you didn't have time to forget that there ain't anybody faster than me." Granted the lack of jewel shards had slowed him down a bit but the fact remained that he was a tornado when it came down to speed. He chuckled. "That and, it's hard to find a good job that let's you fly under the radar." He did not like the smell of human food and he avoided it at all cost. He also made sure to change area once the years started to add up to avoid anyone asking any questions. He could not look young forever. "And here I am."

As he said these words she took the time to take a look at his apparel; black short with two grey stripes on the side and a simple white t-shirt that fitted him a little too snuggly. He had the trademark whistle around his neck, playing the part perfectly.

"It suits you?"

He was the first to break the silence with a laugh. " _Sure_." He ran his fingers through his bangs, not even sure where to begin. "So, time travel."

"Yup."

"How old are you?"

" _17_."

"How old were you when I met you?"

"15."

He winced. " _Man_."

She could not help the laughter that bubbled out of her throat. "Yeah."

"Wait - so it's been… two years for you?"

"About so." Two years that she had been dividing her life between two eras. Two years where she had been half-assing two things. It took a toll on her but, she was the one who broke the jewel and it was her responsibility to fix it.

Last time he had seen her…it was before the final battle. They had said their goodbyes, and he had never seen her again. He knew she had lived, he knew she had made it through but… except for that, nothing else.

"What's happening for you right now?"

Kagome sighed. "Well, let's see… Ayame tried to kill me not too long ago." He winced. "And we're still behind on the shards."

No final battle.

He could not possibly tell her that that it was over, that it went well. He was not quite sure about all the time travel rules but he was convinced he was not supposed to tell her the outcome of her battle. Instead, he decided that he would keep his mouth shut on the topic. Although he was sure that she never returned to the feudal era. After all, would he not have heard of it? He knew Inuyasha and him were not bonding buddies, and he had seen him a couple of times after the battle but… he had not heard about Kagome. He had never seen her again.

"Wait!"

"Hm?"

" _You know what happens!_ "

He was sort of hoping it would take her a bit more time before she figured it out.

"I ain't telling."

She twisted her mouth. "That's not fair."

"We wouldn't wanna mess up the end result now would we?"

 _He had a point_. Even though she hated the fact that he had all the answers while she lived in uncertainty.

"Plus, you go back all the time right? Maybe it already changes every time you go back."

"Did you ever see me again?"

How to tell her without telling her. "We said goodbye at some point, way before anything. I - I'm not sure what happened to you."

She should not be asking but a part of her always wondered; would the well keep working after it was all over. Apparently, Kouga would not be the one to provide her with this answer. Then again, it might be best if she did not know; if she did, it would affect her decisions and she could not afford to make any more mistakes.

"Since you won't tell me anything, what have _you_ been up to for the last five hundred years."

He shrugged his shoulders. "It was hard. We had to juggle and adjust to a world that wasn't ours. A lot of us didn't make it, a lot of us didn't want to make it. I know some youkais who still live in hiding, they don't wanna adapt."

"And you didn't mind?"

"What was I gonna do? It was fake it and make it or die." His instincts would not let him perish, and it forced him to go with the only option he had left; morphing himself into a human, and pretending he was like the rest of them. Even if he was not. _Although_ finding her was a pleasant surprise he had to say. He would be lying if he said it was not a bit destabilizing. For him, it had been a long time and she looked just the same as the day he kidnapped her. And the way she interacting with him - it was like not a day had gone by. Then again, for - it was the case.

"I'm sorry…"

The moment he showed her the bracelet, she knew it meant nothing good. And Inuyasha had never sensed a youkai in her timeline. Glamour spell or not, she was certain someone probably slipped at some point. She assumed it meant there were not many left. But, by chance, Kouga was one of them.

"It's fine, could be worse. A crazy wolf could kidnap me and claim me right?" He flashed his white teeth at her and waiting for her laughter, which quickly followed.

" _Yeah_." It was strange. It was not that long ago that Kouga was proclaiming his love for her, following her around and always grabbing her and trying to get her attention. This Kouga was much different. He had barely laid a hand on her and he was been quite respectful. Then again, what did she expect? A long of time had gone by for him and he had gotten older. Gone was his silly crush.

"Look, _I'm not_ \- I don't wanna be weird. I just - I can give you my number." He raised a hand and began scratching the back of his head. Why was he so fucking awkward? "In case there's anything."

It did not even take a second before she smiled at him. "Of course!" She did not have many friends she could vent to in this era - and honestly, she would not mind the company. Sometimes it was hectic and who knew - he might be able to come up with better suggestions for her constant absences. He might have been a little hot headed in the past, but he had never been a bad person and he had saved her a couple of times. She did consider him as a friend. They quickly exchanged numbers and she flashed him a smile.

"I guess I should be going."

"Probably. If not your friends might think you're dying."

"Yeah… and…" Her eyes widened. "The test!"

He slapped his hand over his mouth, slowly dragging it down. "I kinda made a sense. Wouldn't make much sense for you to go back now… at least not without it looking weird."

"I need this. Or I'm going to fail." And for once, somebody was going to understand the importance of this situation.

"Can you stay an extra day? You could do it tomorrow?"

She sighed. "Inuyasha is gonna yell my ears off, but I'll make it work. I can't fail."

"I think you should be fine. I heard the teacher is a pretty decent guy."

Joy bubbled from her chest and she joined him in his laughter. "I don't know, he's a little intense."

"I think he got older, _wiser_."

"We'll see about that," she teased as she headed for the door. "I'm really happy to see you Kouga."

"Yeah, me too."

-P-

"Sis?"

"Are you sure?"

"That's not possible."

"But - time travel?"

"No way."

"Are you sure it was sis?"

" _Yes_ ," he growled.

If they asked him one more question, he was going to snap their necks.

"Here? In japan? Now?"

He had meant to brush it off as though it was not an important news but - he had not been able to keep it to himself. The moment he had met up with Ginta and Hakkaku they had known something was up. First of all they had smelled a familiar scent on him, and - _he had to give it all up_. He gave them the gist of it and he had explained as best as he could. They were clearly quite excited.

"Can you believe, sis, after all this time."

"You mean after all the time he spent pinning after her."

His eyes narrowed. "That was a long time ago. And I had given her up."

"Yeah, because you thought she'd be with Inuyasha, in the past forever. _But_ she's here. She belongs here. It changes everything."

"It doesn't change anything," he snapped. "It's been five hundred years. I gave her up a long time ago. It's not the same… and — she's just a student now."

Ginta was the first to snort. Kagome? Just a student? When had Kagome ever been anything but _just_ something? He had changed their whole way of life for her and even after 'giving her up' he had stuck to the changes. Kagome had helped him grow into an even better leader and a better person. "Then how come you chased that lead way back then?"

"It was a mistake."

So he thought he had seen her. It had been a mistake. _Plus_ , being happy to see her did not mean he had to be in love with her. She was just equally happy to see him and she was not in love with him. It had nothing to do with one and another.

"Come on, she's here."

"And she's still there."

She had not stopped traveling and her magical well had not closed behind her. It did not change the situation. She was still there and here and she already had found someone she wanted. It was Inuaysha. "It don't change anything."

"But boss…"

"Stop it."

They had to swallow back their grimaces - they did not like this. They knew why he had given up Kagome but - but this felt like an opportunity delivered by the gods. They were handing him back Kagome. How could he let this pass without doing anything? He had kept to himself for so long and Kagome was an opportunity to have someone who knew about him and who understood him. However, if his growl was any indication, it was best to drop it for now.

"If you say so boss."

"I do."

He was not the reckless pup he used to be. Kouga was older and more mature and he was not about to repeat mistakes from the past. This Kagome did not know this him and - yes, they would probably be friends, keep in contact but it would never be more than that. He had moved past that moment in time and they were different people. She was a friend from the past, his student in the present and that was enough.

Nothing more.

-P-

"And pass."

His statement startled her to the point that she nearly fell forward. "What do you mean pass?"

"You passed."

She stuttered. "But I haven't run yet?"

He let a chuckle rumble through his chest. "I've seen you run, I think you're fine."

It was no longer a public event. It was only the two of them inside the gym; there was no point in making her go through the charade. After all, he knew she needed her strength for more important matter and honestly he did not know how she managed to pull off fighting youkais in the past and passing school in the present. He would not have been able to do it.

"Kouga, that's not fair."

"No, what ain't fair is that you have to split your life in two and that it's never taken into consideration."

His words hit home. She knew he meant that the school could not know about what she was doing in the past, and she agreed but it also held another meaning for her. How many times did she have to fight with Inuyasha just to gain one day home? How many times did she have to justify herself when she needed to return? And it was never enough. She felt like she was being pulled apart by two different sides and they were threatening to rip her in two. She did not like this _cheating_ but, honestly, for once, she did not mind if something was easy. She let herself hit the ground, exhaustion claiming her body. Kagome closed her eyes, enjoying the quietness.

Talking to him was freeing and refreshing. He understood everything and she could tell him everything.

This… was nice.

"You okay?"

She nodded. "It's nice here, it's safe." She loved her life filled with adventures but sometimes it was nice to not constantly worry about the safety of her life.

"For humans," he added with a chuckle. It as surprising to him how well he had managed to adjust to life in a completely different era. She really was something else.

"Is it that bad?" She had not taken a moment to consider the hardship that involved spending your life in secrecy. She knew she had her own secrets to hide but at least she was still free to be _Kagome_.

"Is what bad?"

"Never being yourself."

It was a difficult question; it came with its ups and downs. Sometimes, it was difficult to hold back, to hide everything about himself and to shelter his life from the world. But at the same time, she had not been completely wrong; it was a much safer era. Even though he could not reveal he was a youkai, he did not have to worry about an attack coming, or fending for food. Sure, he had to come up with the stupidest jobs to make a living, but it remained better than it was.

"Are you alone?"

It was a question that had been burning her lips. If Kouga was still here… other people had managed to survive the hardships of the centuries.

"I'm not sure what happened to everyone. I have Ginta and Hakkaku with me… but I don't know… Not quite sure what happened to your kit." Somehow he felt like he was only giving her half of the answer she was looking for at this moment.

Shippo had actually not crossed her mind. She had mostly wanted to know if he had been all alone during this entire time. Kouga - well _the Kouga she knew -_ was quite devoted to his pack, and he would do anything for them. She could hardly see him living in a world where he was alone.

There was _someone_ else though.

"He's a hanyou."

"What?"

"Inuyasha. He's an _hanyou_. They don't live that long." He did not want to tell her flat out that he was dead but - it was the sad truth. Kouga did not have all the details concerning the when and how but he had heard of his death a few centuries ago.

"Oh." What else did she expect? "Yeah, I didn't think so…" She finally looked at him with a smile on her face. "I'm just happy you weren't alone during all these years."

Nobody should be by themselves.

"I don't think I could get rid of them even if I wanted to."

She jointed him in his laughter. The sounds echoed in the empty room for a moment before it died down.

"I should probably start heading back before Inuyasha storms the school and finds you."

"Does he do that a lot?" Seeing her was great but if Inuyasha was going to make her life difficult over it, he did not want to make her situation harder. He did not know how invasive Inuyasha could be. Then again, he did not know why he was surprised; back in the end, he did not let her catch her break. Clearly, the situation was the same - after all, it was the same Inuyasha from five hundred years ago.

"Sort of. He's known to be impatient." But really, it was not Inuyasha's fault. It was because he was in a hurry to put the jewel back together so that they could get rid of Naraku forever. He needed to take his revenge on the spider youkai for stealing his life from him - and his love. After all, Inuyasha did need to avenge Kikyo.

Although, she should not be thinking about that right now. This was the one thing in her life that she could not change - a lesson she had learned the hard way. If she could not control it, why be upset over it? She admitted that she would stay by his side, that she had feelings for him - and _he loved Kikyo_. Some things were supposed to stay the same.

Kouga's nose twitched. "Kagome?"

"I'm fine. I just - have to go. Thank you again."

"Let me know when you're back in the real world."

"Absolutely."

She gave him a small wave of the hand, and then, turn around to head back to her destiny, her steps slow and sluggish.

For a second, Kouga's heart squeezed. Every time he saw Kagome in the feudal era, she was happy and full of energy. Maybe she only allowed herself to be tired when she was shielded from everyone.

Apparently, he had a lot to discover about the real Kagome.

-P-


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello peeps!
> 
> First of all, I did not expect this outpour of love. Wow, thank you so much. All your reviews inspired me. I really did mean to update sooner but, with NaNoWriMo and changing department at work. Thank you, I really wasn't sure about this story, but after all the reviews, I am inspired. And from your comments and the ideas it gave me... this is going to be a long story...
> 
> Again, you don't know how much it meant to me that so many of you took the time to review. Thank you, thank you.

"Inuyasha, if you don't stop smelling me, I'm gonna say that  _word_  you don't like."

His nose had been sniffing around her for two days straight now. Each time there was a gush of wind or she made a sudden movement, he was hovering around her as if he was almost suspecting her of being  _Naraku_. She knew that the reason he had not been able to sense Kouga and other youkais in the modern era was due to glamour spells but at this particular moment she wondered how effective they were. He might not have flat out figured out what happened, but it did not change the fact that he would not stop  _sniffing_  her - that meant that he at least knew something was off about her scent. This was not good.

"Keh, I ain't smelling you."

He did not know what it was. She smelled like  _something_ , but what? Maybe his nose was playing tricks on him? After days of trying to identify a non-existent scent, he could not tell anymore. There was this lingering feeling upon her skin but he could not figure out where it came from and what it was. Had they encountered a youkai? Was something affecting his sense of smell? He looked up at the bright blue sky, pondering the days; he was not near the full moon either. Then what was it? It rubbed him off the wrong way, immediately triggering a sense of rage within his chest.

 _Why did he know that feeling_?

Kagome blew her bangs out of her face, a feeling of nervousness rolling off of her skin. Soon enough that present-not present scent was not going to be what gave her away; it would be her own horrible poker face. How was she supposed to act as though nothing was going on when nausea of guilt were rising up her throat? She knew she could not  _tell_  him, but - but it did not make it any easier. Well - maybe she could? No, no, if she told him, that would be the end of it. Inuyasha would never - ever - let her return home again. Also, she had no desire for a fight to break out and she did not want either of them to be the news report on a journal or something.

No, this was a secret that was best kept…. Well secret.

No matter what, Kagome was going to bite her tongue and she would keep it to herself. It was not as though Inuyasha did not keep a few secrets of his own - most of them involving Kikyo. She was allowed to do the same.

_Zing._

The familiar feeling of a shard closing in zapped her out of her thoughts and Kagome snapped her head to the left. She watched the thick, dark green forest, her eyes waiting for a youkai to emerge from within its darkness. It took a moment for her companions to realize that she had come to a halt, but eventually, someone picked up on it.

"Kagome?"

Sango's voice echoed through her ears as she took a step backward, feeling it closing in. She had been wrong; it was more than one shard. " _There's a shard coming_."

These words attracted the attention of the rest of the group.

At that moment, Kagome recognized the familiarity of the shards; it was  _him_. The gush of wind breezed through ad the sight of a blurry tornado came into view and she knew what to expect. Long black hair wrapped in a ponytail popped into view as the sand slowly retracted. His tall stature closed in, and approached her with a rapid step. Before his presence became clear, she felt a clasping around her hands, warmth through her skin. She held back a cough, the dust dying down, before daring to look up at Kouga. He was staring down at her face, a grin spreading across his lips while he nearly intertwined their fingers.

"You look tired Kagome." His soft features hardened. "Hey, muttface, what did you do to my woman?"

"Get your hands off of her, you mangy wolf! She ain't your woman!"

Inuyasha's hand was already hovering over his tessaiga, ready to launch himself at the wolf youkai. Who did he think he was putting his dirty paws all over Kagome? Had he yet to learn his lesson?

"Are you threatening me muttface?"

And this was the exact reason why Kagome had decided to not tell Inuyasha about… _future_  Kouga. Now she knew she had made the right decision. These two were worse than cats and dogs. Although first things first, she needed to get away from Kouga's steel grip. She tried to pull her hands free but no matter how hard she tugged, she could not detach herself from him. The difference between this kouga and the one from the future could be apparent. He was not as needy anymore. Then again, could she really pass a judgement? She had only met up with him once and their meeting could be described as short.

"Kouga."

That did not get his attention. They were both arguing over her but neither of them were actually paying attention to her.

"I shouldn't have let you near my woman."

My woman. That was something else the  _new_  Kouga had not called her -  _yet_. Then again - all things considered it would be weird if he did that.

"Stop calling her your woman."

He could feel a twitch in his left eye as the word woman kept playing over and over in his head. No Kagome was not his but she was certainly not the property of that mangy wolf. She was not going to be his no matter what… and what in the world was she doing letting him touch her like that? Did she not have any shame at all? Allowing him to paw her like that…He was not going to stand for this.

"Oi, Kagome, stop letting him grope you."

This time it was her eyes that narrowed. Was he kidding her? Where did he get off telling her who could touch her and who could not? And,  _and_  she was not letting him grope her! "Inuyasha." Her tone changed and became like ice. Inuyasha stilled, his bottom lip quivering as he knew what was coming. It was too late. "Sit." The familiar pull towards the ground came for him and before he could take an intake of air, he was eating dirt.

But one was not enough for her. He needed another one - maybe that would help him understand that he should mind his own business. "Sit."

The interaction appeared enough to distract Kouga and she was able to free herself from his grip. Kouga was now busy holding his stomach in laughter as he watched Inuyasha being buried in the ground. That was his punishment for trying to keep him away from his woman. It also reminded him to never got on Kagome's bad side; she could be terrifying.

"I'm not letting him  _grope_  me you jerk!" She was fuming. "Sit!"

"Kagome!"

"Sit!" Her hands were crisped by her sides, redness spreading to her cheeks, rage flowing through her blood.

"Maybe  _you_ need to stay away from my woman."

" _Kouga_ ," she turned her head, ready to lecture him as well, but she was struck for a moment. The difference was - astonishing. Now that she was no longer under the effect of surprise, she could see the lack of wrinkles, the babyness of his face, the lack of years. This Kouga almost felt like a child. How did he grow up to be the serious, mature Kouga she had met recently?

"Hey Kouga!"

Breathless voices emerged from the forest. It did not take too long for Ginta and Hakkaku to emerge from the thick bushes. They were panting, their foreheads shining with a build up of sweat as they tumbled into sight. They were bent over, their hand on their knees while they foolishly attempted to catch their breath.

"You gotta leave us behind every time?"

"We can't run fast like you!"

Ginta was the first to raise his head and looked up at his alpha - which also allowed him to notice Kagome's presence. "Sis!"

That new piece of information brought a huge smile on his face; no wonder Kouga had left them behind without a second thought! Once Kouga would catch a sniff of Kagome, that would be it! Their recent encounters had been scarced ad far apart - they knew how much he missed her. Plus, the entire story with Ayame had really put a damper on things and they knew how eager he was to rectify the situation. He nudged Hakkaku, who had failed to pay attention to Kagome's presence. His elbow dug into his ribs, finally bringing him to reality. He raised his head and spotted Kagome, a huge smile beaming upon his face.

"No wondered you were such in a rush. You wanted to see  _Sis_."

Kouga turned his head and glared at Ginta and Hakkaku, silently telling him to shut up while only using his eyes. He already had to deal with Inuyasha and he did not want to deal with these two idiots on top of it. He narrowed his eyes, his aura flaring around, tickling Kagome's skin.

" _I thought_  I smelled a trail," he corrected.

"Sure.

"A trail."

"Huh."

"Of course, boss."

" _Idiots_ , come on, let's go." He was not about to be turned into a fool in front of Kagome.

Kouga turned his head and looked at the pile of red and dirt that was Inuyasha. He was dug too deep into the ground the be able to reply to him, but Kouga spoke regardless. "Now remember, I leave her with you until I get my hands on that Naraku.  _Don't lay a finger on my woman_."

And then, as quickly as these words were spoken, he became nothing more than wind and dust, leaving once again Hakkaku and Ginta behind.

"KOUGA!"

Kagome watched them run after him, an amused smile dancing upon her lips. If the physical resemblance had not been uncanny, she would have never believed that her  _teacher_  was  _this_  Kouga. It almost felt impossible.

They were too different to be the same person.

-P-

Her head was pounding, her temple was throbbing as she listened to her teacher ramble on. Why did she not skip her math class? Of all the classes she could have gotten out of, why did she not pick this one? She was struggling to even keep her eyes open as he spoke of concept she could no longer remember. What if she excused herself to go to the bathroom? Then she could return to the feudal era and avoid this hellish nighmare. Who cared if she failed? At this point, she was not even convinced that all of her efforts were even worth it. Most likely, she was going through all of this suffering for absolutely nothing.

A knock on the door pulled her out of her thoughts.

Her teacher's speech was finally interrupted as he turned his head to stare at the door. His bushy grey eyebrows frowned as a heavy sigh slipped his lips. He slowly headed for the pale wooden door, his feet sliding across the white tiles. He grabbed the metal handle and twisted it open.

"Sorry to interrupt. Could I see miss Higurashi?"

Miss Higurashi? That was her.

…And that voice…

"Kagome Higurashi?" her teacher called out.

She jolted awake and hurried to gather her items that were scattered around her desk. She wrapped her arms around them, shoving them quickly inside her yellow bag and rushed to the door. As expected, she was faced with a familiar sight standing in the doorway of her classroom. He held back a grin while he watched the surprise form on her features. She had not contacted him to inform him of her presence and return to the modern era. Regardless, he had been able to msell her the moment her presence graced the hallways of the school. This could be slightly considered as a form of stalking, but he hoped she would see it for what it was; a rescue.

"I just need her for her test."

"Of course."

Obviously she missed so many classes that nobody even asked questions about her having to re-take a test…

Her teacher moved out of the way, allowing Kagome to get into the hallway. She made sure to keep a stoic face while the teacher was still present and then waited for him to close the door.

"A test?"

"I never said I was a good liar," he answered while flashing her a green.

"Thank you." Despite how much she needed to pass her class, she was glad someone had made the difficult decision for her.

"It felt like you needed a break."

"It felt?"

"You aura was all over the place." In a world where everyone was hiding themselves, it made her pop out. It was actually a bit dangerous. Obviously, very few people would out themelves to come after her - but he still did not like the thought of it.

"You can sense me?"

"Ya, you're like a big christmas tree all lite up."

She frowned. Others could sense her as well? How long had she been open and vulnerable to the world? Was it not dangerous? Last time a youkai came to her in this era, it nearly ended badly for her and her little brother and she wanted to keep her family safe. She did not want them to be harmed by the life she lived on the other side of the well. It would not be fair to them. She never knew how vulnerable she was and what kind of danger she was imposing on them. Then again, up until she encountered Kouga, she thought that youkais were long gone…

"Hey…" he said as he noticed her long face. "It ain't that bad."

"What if someone comes after my family?"

"Nobody will hurt you or your family."

He could not speak about the past but he could speak about the future and he would never let anything happen to her or the ones she cared about. Her family. That was something he had not even considered. He had always seen her running around in the past accompanied by Inuyasha. No human parents would allowed their child to roam the forest with youkais. It had led him to believe that she had been on her own. Of course back then he did not know that she was a time traveling miko. That did change his perspective.

Somehow, Kouga's words sent a vibration through her chest. She would not be able to doubt the truthfulness of his statement, even if she tried. "Thanks." She offered him a smile.

And then silence.

Which she did not like - it made things awkward. They were not in a stage of their relationship where a silence was comfortable - not now, and not in the past either.

"So I have a test?"

He chuckled. "I figured he would believe  _that_."

"Yeah, I do miss a lot of school…"

"Miss a lot? I wouldn't even call it that at this point."  _Not_  that he had taken a look at her attendance record. He would never - it would be  _hrm_  unethical.

She narrowed her eyes. "Well some of us are busy saving the world you know."

"Hm, so what have I been doing then?"

"Hm," she pretended to think. "I don't know, shouting on top of mountains? Collecting flowers? Disregarding promises?"

Confusion shone in his eyes. Disregarding promises? Since when did he not keep his promises? If he had one thing going for him it was his honest and his loyalty. What in the world was she walking about? "What promises?"

"Ayame."

"Ayame?"

As he stared at her with wide confused blue eyes she realized that he did not know what she was talking about. The recent event for her was much further in the past for him and he could not even remember what she was talking about.

"Remember the whole  _she was going to kill me_  because you had promised to  _marry her_." The crazy attack was still quite vivid in  _her_  mind.

He could not help the groan that came out of him as frustration boiled inside of his chest - not this again. "She was a child."

"What?"

"She was just a child when I met her. I tried to re-assure her, I tried to make her think she'd be okay. I mean…" He rubbed his face. "She was so young. I'm not even sure if all of this did happen, or if she couldn't remember it right… or if she was romanticizing it or something."

She opened her mouth - and immediately closed it. When Kagome had learned the story, she had been slightly upset at Kouga, thinking he was being unfair to Ayame. After all, it made non sense for him to break a promise because he was waiting for  _her_. It was not like that between them. But…now that he was putting it in a different light…he was right. She had been fairly young and scared from what she had heard about the story. But it had sounded so perfect and romantic… it sounded exactly like something Kouga would do. He was - or used to be - quite intense and reckless with his emotions. However, this calm explanation gave her another perspective.

"Sorry."

Great. Now he felt like  _shit_. He ran his fingers through his brown bangs, annoyed at himself. "Sorry, it's just. Shit, I didn't even remember her. I don't think I've really seen her since then." She had been a child back then. He did not know her then and he did not know her now. How was it still a thing? "That's what you remember me for?"

He had to admit, he did not think that these negatives and silly things were what she remembered about him. Did he really make such a bad impression on her? Did he do nothing but turn himself into a fool every time she was around? He knew he had been a little pushy and maybe borderline annoying but - had he not helped? Had he not done anything else that she could remember except annoyingly declare his love for her and  _apparently_  break promises? She had seemed happy to see him but now he felt like it might have just been Kagome being Kagome. There was a twisting feeling in his guts and he felt like a moron.

 _Now_  it was Kagome's turn to feel guilty. It was not like she had bad memories of him or anything like that… but it was just — well, they were not exactly close or anything. He had pushed his presence in her bubble more than once but that hardly made them friends. She did not want anything bad to happen to him, and she was more than happy to learn he was okay… but did that… did that make for a friendship? She was not completely sure about it.

"Sorry," she said as she stared ahead. "I guess we aren't that close."

"I guess I was not the… friendliest guy?" he tried with a chuckle.

"You are  _friendly_."

"I think you mean pushy."

"No… just…"

There had to be a better word for it than pushy. Then again… was there really anything else that could be used to describe his advances?

"Okay, maybe pushy  _is_  the word."

He laughed out loud, throwing his head backwards. He could recall a few moments that were perhaps not his greatest - and that was the only image she had of him. He had changed quite a bit over the last few centuries, but of course there was no way for her to know that.

"I was a young cub!"

"A young cub? What are you now? An old wolf?"

He ran his fingers through his hair, smoothing it down, and hiding some of his stray grey hair. He was not old… he was finally kicking into his good years. He was certainly not  _old_ , he was a more mature cub with many good years ahead of him. Granted he had not done much yet, but he had been limited by the overtaking of the humans. He always thought that by now he would at least be settled down, have found the one… but life took him down a different path.

" _Hey, now_  is that any way to speak to your teacher?"

She snorted.  _A teacher_. "Is this how you act with Ginta and Hakkaku? Bossy and teacher like?"

"I am the boss." Well - alpha. Same thing right?

"The poor things." She shook her head. "Just yesterday you left them in the dust again…"

He arched an eyebrow.

"I am- not you - well you, yes you but… the other you…  _gah_ , this is confusing." At least Inuyasha followed her timeline. This Kouga was on a completely different tangent.

"So you saw me yesterday?" He did not know if he should laugh or hide in shame. He knew he had a history of embarrassing himself in front of her and honestly? Most of these memories were vague at best.

"Yeah, you hm, came to remind Inuyasha that I'm your woman."

"Ah."  _Oh yeah - that_.

"You know, it's strange to believe it's you - without the woman calling and all the hand grabbing."

 _Ouch_. If she had not answered it before, now it was clear; he had left a trail of bad memories behind. He had been quite the eager cub back then. "For my defence, you made quite the impression on me."

"Yes, everyone seems to not want to live without their jewel detector," she mumbled.

"Jewel detector?"

"Yeah. You wanted me so I could find the shards for you, Inuyasha needs me to find them for him… everybody wants the jewel detector." The bitterness came out before she could stop it.

"Woah, woah." This time, he was forced to come to a halt. Jewel detector? "You thought I proclaimed my love for you because I wanted the shards?"

"You and everyone else." Every encounter she had, every relation she had made, it was always based on the jewel. It always began with shard.

He shook his head. "No. I mean -  _yes_ , at first. It seemed like a good idea. I wanted to protect my pack and you were the way to do it. But when I  _claimed_  my love for you on top of that mountain…it wasn't for the shards. Kagome, you are selfless, you  _viciously_  protect what is yours, you help everyone, regardless of who they are. I've never met anyone as kind as you. Why do you think my pack stopped feeding on humans? It was you. Seeing you  _changed_  me. Ya think there's a lot of humans that went around be-friending youkais? You were one of a kind. They way you treat others, your drive and your loyalty… these were the reasons I kept - " He cringed. "They were the reasons I kept being  _pushy_."

 _Definitively_  not the same Kouga.

The other one was brash, a little rough around the edges - although not a bad guy. But this one? He was different. He expressed himself a lot better, and he understood boundaries on a whole new level.  _And he said things_  she wished Inuyasha could say to her. If he was saying it, it was because it was true. Five hundred years later, he was gaining nothing by telling her how much he loved her back then. How come he managed to see all that about her, despite their rare encounters and yet - yet Inuyasha could not let go of Kikyo?

 _And she was sad_.

Goddamn it, why did he keep doing this?

"Listen, I just -  _I just mean_ , I was - it was with good intention. I didn't wanna let a woman like you go."

 _She felt bad_. It was not even because of him that she was upset but he was taking the blame. She did not need to talk to him about her trouble with Inuyasha. Actually, nobody needed to hear about that. He was centuries old,  _her teacher_  and for him her crush on Inuyasha dated back five hundred years. Did not seem like the kind of conversation they should be having.

"Thank you."

"Now I'm confused."

She laughed. "I just needed that."

That little statement alone led him to believe that her upset behaviour was in no way related to him. If he did not know any better, he would say it had to do with Inuyasha. Then again, whatever their relationship was - it was never clear. He knew Kagome felt for him, and Inuyasha felt something for her back - and yet nothing seemed to have ever happened between them. Clearly it was not a topic she wished to discuss and he was not going to pressure her into it.

"When do you go back?"

"Whenever Inuyasha drags me back." She shrugged her shoulders. "We've been unlucky finding shards lately so I shouldn't stay too long. I just really needed  _a bath_."

"Ah, modern plumbing."

"I don't know how you all did it."

"Easy.," he provided with a gleam in his eye. "We didn't shower."

"Eww."

His deep rich laughter filled out the vicinity as he was unable to hold it back any longer. Times were different - but she was the same. He gasped for air for a second as he took in her expression of disgust, with her upper lip curling and her nose wrinkling.

"I wouldn't trade anything in the world for a shower and a long bath."

"I'm sure that's gotten you in trouble in the past."

" _More than once_." And it also got her yelled at by Inuyasha but that was another story.

"In that case, if you ever need to come back because you're craving a bubble bath, I'd say three weeks from now is a good time." He was not quite sure at what interval she came back. He knew how heated the situation could be in the past, and the location of the well was nowhere near where they spent a lot of their time.

"In three weeks why?"

"It's the bake sale, and I have this great cookie recipe -  _it's hundreds_  of years old. Literally."

And that she could believe.

"You? You bake?"

"I'm a man of many talents."

"Do you wear a pink apron?"

"You know what, you don't get any."

He walked ahead of her slightly, pretending to be offended. He never knew it could be like this. Now that he was trying to re-call, the amount of actual conversations he had with her were limited. He had never seen this side of Kagome. Then again, when had he given her a chance to show it? He had been too busy trying to woo her and taking her away from Inuyasha. He had lost out on seeing different aspects of her - he also had lost his chance on showing her who he was. But that was a thing of the past. He was happy he could see her in this time, and he was glad there was  _someone_   _else_  who knew about him. It was a drag to pretend 24/7. She made it a little easier - even if this was only their second or third meeting.

This was good.

-P-

"Keh, took you long enough."

As per usual, Inuyasha was waiting for her by the well. He had his arms crossed in front of his chest, his long red sleeves hanging. His expression was enough to tell her that he was quite unhappy with the fact that she had yet again returned home. He was never happy about that. But - it did not matter how many times she tried to explain it to him, he could not possibly understand the challenge that she was facing. For him, the only world that counted was this one, and this world needed the jewel to be put back together.

She wanted Naraku defeated just as much as he did, but it did not change the fact that she also had a life on the other side of the well. She could not simply disregard it. She was a visitor here. She was not from this era. Once it was all over, she would probably have to go back home. Obviously, she did not want to think about that, at least not yet. She would deal with it when the time would come. It did occur to her that a time barrier might impose itself between the two of them, and the thought of it made her sick to her stomach.

 _Regardless_  of her non-existent love situation, she needed to make sure she had a future to return to - and that included school.

At least she now had Kouga. She could talk to him. He understood the importance of her education - even if he had pulled her out of class for no reason. She could not say she was not grateful for it.

"I was gone two days." Barely. As soon as the last school bell had rang, she had made a dash for the shrine. Good thing her mother had kindly prepared her bag for her. A few kisses and she had been on her way back to the feudal era.

"Why did ya have to go back already?"

"I told you Inuyasha, I have school."

"Why do you need that  _school_ , I've been there. It ain't nothing."

Of course, he would not grasp the concept of education and learning.

"Inuyasha - everybody needed to rest. I'm back, it's fine."

"Yeah, but now we wasted two days. And let me guess, now you're tired?" He knew her family was on the other side of the well, and he knew she had things there. But Naraku was slowly taking everything. They could not afford to lose any time. Plus she already carried those big books around! Did she really need to go to that sku-oul, anyway?

" _Inuyasha_."

"And then you're gonna wanna have a bath, and rest… and all of you walk so slow." Shippo was the only one who could keep up and - he cheated. "If I was by myself I'd cover a lot more ground, way faster."

"Inuyasha."

"I have to carry all of you."

"Inuyasha."

"Keh, you'd all be death without me."

" _Inuyasha sit."_

The familiar sound of his body hitting the ground brought a smile to her face. She had been in a good mood - she had even given him the chance to stop his rant but he refused to acknowledge the various hints she had given up. What else was she supposed to do?

She would do her best to minimize the amount of trips she had to take, but she did have to return home once in a while. It was the compromise. He always knew that.  _Why the bad mood_? She let her nose wrinkle as she tried to smell herself.  _He could not smell it_. She had confirmed it and re-confirmed it with Kouga. It was not possible.

Hopefully.

She would probably ask again next time.

Maybe she  _could_  go back in three weeks.

What would be the harm in getting a few cookies?

-P-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes okay.  
> That whole Ayame thing - the one people bash him for? It had to be addressed. /passiveaggressivemaddieout


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thank you so much for the love peeps! Also, don't wanna brag, but I'm getting pretty good at this updating multiple stories thing.

"Why, why, why?"

Her life was always a mess. She had managed to forget a very important book right before the biggest exam of her life. She had barely managed to sneak past Inuyasha t make it to the well. She knew that the second he would notice her disappearance, he would make a dash for the well and snatch her away. To giver herself more time, she did not even tell her mother she was here. That way, she had time to go to school, snatch the book and return to the feudal era without causing too many problems. Well - to not piss off Inuyasha, mostly. The less shards they found, the more upset he was. She knew a lot was a stake for him and it made for a difficult situation. But  _she had a life here_.

Kagome finally reached her locker, relief washing through her. She began fidgeting with the lock, trying to hurry.

"Sneaking in?"

Startled, she let out a yelp. Rapidly, she spun around, only to come face to face with Kouga. He stood there, his arms crossed in front of is chest, stretching the blue fabric across his muscles. He was smirking, showing his teeth, while his head was corked to the side.

"You gave me a heart attack." She let out a breath of air and allowed her muscles to relax. "Don't you work?"

"I'm pretty fast," he teased. "What are you doing here?"

"Getting my book and jumping through the well before Inuyasha realizes that I'm gone."

He arched an eyebrow before biting back a comment; Inuyasha was quite the watch dog. Did Inuyasha not realize how difficult her life was and how torn apart she was? She had to constantly divide herself and leave her life and family behind.

"I kind of sneaked away and I'm sure he's realized it by now." Making her way to school had taken her longer than she had expected…

"Oi! KAGOME!"

Kagome's eyes bulged as she heard the sound of the familiar voice. Panic filled her bloodstream as she prayed he had not caught sight of her yet. Already? What had he done to make it here so fast? Blast through the city?  _Scratch that_ , she did not want to know.

 _And Kouga was here_.

"Oh no, no, no! You have to hide."

"I have to what?"

Inuyasha - he had not heard that voice in a long time. He sounded the exact same - hearing him even brought forth a rush of adrenaline. Something about Inuyasha triggered him. Perhaps it was the aggressiveness of his aura; he had not sensed that coming from another youkai in a long time. Plus hide? Where did she want him to go? It was not like he could speed away and hide himself the way he used to do it in the past.

"Where do you want me to go?"

"Anywhere," she pleased. He should not want to be found out either. For her, it was fine. She had a better grasp on time travel and she could process this situation. Inuyasha however could bring forth a problem both in the present and in the past and it had to be avoided.

Kouga's eyes darted the vicinity, trying to locate a place to hide. As he noticed Kagome's panic, his eyes narrowed. He could heard Inuyasha's upcoming footsteps, and he knew time was running out for them. How far did he have to hide? How smart was Inuyasha? Fortunately for Kouga, Kagome was faster than him and she spotted something that  _might_  just work. She grabbed him by the shirt, forcing him to follow, and she dragged him away from sight before he could even react. Suddenly, darkness befell around him and all he could hear was the sound of a door loudly slamming close. He felt stuck as he was being pressed and squeezed from all side.

Once Kouga opened his eyes, he realized their location; the janitor's closet. There was a broom and a mop leaning against the wall near his head, while many boxes laid across his feet. When he looked down, he could see the top of Kagome's head, her hair flaring in all direction. As the quietness of their location fell upon them, they both became painfully aware of how small the space surrounding them was. Her face was pressed into his chest, feeling the hardness of his muscles, while her hand awkwardly rested near his hips. His own arms were protectively wrapped around her tiny frame, a position he had taken during the rush of the events. His nose was touching the top of her hair, the scent of her shampoo tickling his nostrils.

What a location she chose.

Of course there was nothing  _strange_  about this situation. She was a young student - and now he was her teacher. It was not like they had this type of relationship before or now. The only reason her cheeks were burning was because of the  _awkwardness_  of the closeness and the Inuyasha's lurking presence. Kouga had centuries on her and he unfortunately simply got swept into the situation. They were simply hiding from Inuyasha… in a closet… like teenagers.  _Well_  she  _was_  a teenager. He was not.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha's voice echoed through the hallway.

Kagome's chest began to hurt from the rapid beating of her heart; she was stressed. This had been the worst idea. If Inuyasha got a wiff of her scent and found her like this, it would be even worse. She tilted her head backwards, trying to meet Kouga's eyes, hoping he would provide assistance. If she talked, they would be fund out. Luckily, he felt the shift of her head and glanced down at her, spotting the panic shining in her eyes. She was scared of being found out by Inuyasha. There was not much he could do, especially while they were trapped in such a small space. Perhaps his scent masking spell could extend to her but he was not certain that it could be done. Honestly, could he even get any closer to her? He did not think so.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

That was not Inuyasha's voice.

But no reply came - just a shuffle of the feet that caused Kouga's ears to twitch.

"He left," he whispered.

"What?"

"Another teacher scared him off."

Relief washed through her even though she knew it was nothing but momentary. It did not give her much time but it did give her a chance to make it to the well. At least Inuyasha did not try to fight the teacher…

"Are you sure you wanna go back?" he teased.

She groaned.

"I could fight him off."

"No thank you," she said with a laughter. "You two do that enough already."

Yes, he did have a tendency to fight Inuyasha on sight. However, it was hardly his fault. "I had a lot to prove back then." He was quite a young cub and he had to show that he was worthy of being the pack leader. "I mean, my dad just died, I took over the pack… and shit… I mean - during the first year I managed to lose more than half of the pack."

Oh.

 _Oh_.

She was not expecting such a heartfelt confession, especially not when heir bodies were this close and touching in such a confine space. Her eyes softened and suddenly, she felt ridden with guilt. He had lost so much more than she ever realized. She could still vividly remember how heartbroken he was when he lost his pack and back then she did not even know how much pain he had gone through already. She did not know about his father… All she knew was that he had been the youngest pack leader but she had never found out the reasons why. She had stupidly assumed that it had to be because he had won a fight. After the loss of his father, it was no wonder that he was holding on to the shards and the power and strength they were giving him.

"I'm sorry Kouga, I didn't know."

Why did he keep doing this? Shit. "It was a long time ago."

"Now… but back then you were going through so much… and I didn't know."

"Kagome it's fine."

"No, it's not."

She had lot a parent and she knew how difficult it could be - and she never had to deal with the same responsibilities as he did.

Now Kouga was feeling the awkwardness, the warmth of her body against his, and he was not convinced this was the best setting.

"You should sneak away before you're found out."

She forced a smile on her features. "Probably." He was avoiding the topic at end - then again, as he had mentioned… for him it was a long time ago. The longer she waited, the longer she would have to sit Inuyasha. However, she did feel bad about leaving Kouga by himself after such a confession. "Sorry about shoving you in a closet," she said as it dawned upon her that to leave, they had to get out.

He chuckled. "I've been in worse situations."

Kouga swallowed before slowly backing away, her body heat leaving him as his back hit the door. He managed to move his arms away from her body, untangling himself from her, and he opened the door, shedding light upon her form. He managed to steal a quick glance, making sure Inuyasha was not in sight. He could tell that he was around but not near enough to spot them. It would give them a chance to part ways in privacy. Although these little  _encounters_  did not make him like Inuyasha. Now that he had the full story, he did not appreciate the way she was being treated - but it was none of his business.

"Coast is clear."

She shyly slipped out, staring left and right. "I better go before he spots me."

He nodded. "Good luck on your test."

She smiled. "Any way you can rig the grades?" she teased.

A chortle bubbled from his throat. "I'll see what I can do."

"See ya, Kouga."

"Bye Kagome."

He watched her sped down the clear hallway, an unsettling feeling in his chest. She  _always_  smiled. It did not matter how hard her life was, she kept on pushing. He wished he had known back then. He wished he could have done more, helped more. Perhaps it was impossible to change the past, but he could do something about the future.

-P-

A bath.

She had been craving one of these for weeks. She had really needed to scrub off the dirt of the recent battles. Usually, she preferred taking her baths while shielded by the darkness of the night but she had been unable to obtain such luxury. They had been traveling for weeks without coming across a shard and morals were at an all time low. She was already lucky to have been granted this little break - and it was mostly because Sango had required some time to polish and fix her weapon.

Kagome finished drying her hair with her white cotton towel, hoping to not get a cold from the dampness of her hair. She collected her yellow bag from the ground and nearly dropped it as a familiar zap went through her. As expected, a ew seconds later, the famous sound of Inuyasha's sword hitting the ground echoed through the forest, shaking it to its core.  _Oh god_. She threw her bag over her shoulder and dashed to the campsite. As she thought, she was graced with the sight of an argument between Kouga and Inuyasha. Oh lord.

"Come on mutt face, that's all you've got?"

"You ain't seen nothing yet you mangy wolf."

Oh boy. "Inuyasha, sit."

The familiar thud echoed through as Inuyasha's face hit the ground.

"Why is it always me?  _He_  started it!" He was the one who showed up all cocky, demanding to know where his woman was. He had simply defended Kagome's honor and this was how she was repaying him? Keh.

"Because  _you_  start it."

Granted, she was not there for the beginning of the argument but usually Inuyasha was quick to pull out his sword - Kouga's mere presence was enough. She assumed it was the case again.

"I didn't! He did!"

"I just came for my woman."

Ah. She did not miss that.

"Both of you,  _stop_."

She rolled her eyes and then walked into the middle of their fight. Why was it that they fought every time they saw each other? Well - Kouga did explain it to her a little…  _Crap_. She just remembered his horrible situation. Future Kouga might be okay, but she was not convinced the same could be said about  _this_  Kouga. He had just lost his pack, his dad… at least he had Ginta and Hakkaku. It still did not change the amount of pain he was probably carrying around with him.

"I'm gonna —"

"Sit!"  _and thud_.

"It ain't my fault you can't keep her safe."

"I can take care of myself," she pointed out. She did not need anyone to fight for her.

"He knows that."

"I don't need you two to talk for me," he barked at Ginta. "I know you can take care of yourself Kagome, I just don't think muttface over here is keepin' ya safe."

" _Inuyasha_ ," she stressed, "is just fine." A bit of an idiot but nothing she could not handle. Plus, he had saved her life on many occasions. He might have hurt her emotionally, but he was always protecting her from harm. "Do you two have to fight so much?"

"He's the one who keeps showing up!" defended Inuyasha as he rose from the ground. He quickly dusted up his sleeves, hoping the dirt would not stain the fabric.

"Inuyasha, Kouga wants what we want! He wants to get rid of Naraku just as much as we do."

"Keh, that wolf? He just wants petty revenge."

"It is not petty! He lost his pack Inuyasha. And he lost his dad, and - you of all people should know how difficult it is to lose family."

 _Lost his dad_? Kouga quirked an eyebrow as he scrambled his brain, trying to remember  _when_  he shared with Kagome that his father had passed away. Except for when he had kidnapped her, their conversations had been fairly limited. Usually he sped away before Inuyasha completely went crazy - which he did to spare Kagome. Clearly it upset his woman when there was too much fighting. No matter how hard he tried to remember their previous conversations, he could not recall ever telling her that his father had died.

"Wench, what are you talking about his dad?"

 _Oh crap_. Wait. Did - when -  _Future Kouga_ told her this. Crap. " _Inuyasha, sit!_ "

And that seemed like the easiest way to get out of the conversation. Before he could recover, Kagome quickly spun on her heels, and stormed away from the group.  _Crap, crap, crap_. She had long conversations with this Kouga in the past right? Like - hm, when he kidnapped her, they talked a little. It was believable that she would know this kind of information. Plus, he might not have noticed or heard was she said. She was just sitting Inuyasha and walking away as she had done many times in the past. There was nothing weird or peculiar about that.  _Nope_ , nothing at all.

"Kagome."

Crap.

She knew that voice - and though it was a bit lighter than the one she was getting used to now, she knew it was him. His speed was much faster in this era and he caught up to her in no time. " _Hey_."

"Kouga, hey. What - what is it?"

Kagome was face to face with what felt like a child. Gone were the wrinkles, gone was the maturity in his eyes. He was  _lost_. Kouga always had a cocky attitude about him but for the first time, she was unable to find that side of him.

"When did I tell ya about my dad?" He did not share that often, and he was surprised he told her. He was the alpha of the pack, he had to be strong and he had to protect everyone. He had failed at that task, but it did not mean he was not going to rectify the situation. He would also protect Kagome. She had put her life on the line to defend her pack from the birds of paradise and she was one of their own. How could he protect her if she thought less of him?

"Hm, I -"  _Five hundred years in the future_. Somehow that did not feel like the best answer to give him. "Just - I'm not sure."

"I can take care of the pack."

"I know."

"I  _will_  kill that Naraku."

"I know."

This was it. These were the emotions she had been expecting when Kouga told her he lost everything. This version of himself was still feeling the pain deeply.

"I don't need anybody's help to do it."

Inuyasha had come during the attack -  _Kagome_  had helped him as well. But he could do it just fine by himself. He did not need others to protect him or watch him.

"Kouga… it's okay if you need help."

"Pft, as if that bastard could catch me."

And there was the Kouga she knew.

"Nobody's doubting you Kouga."

Suddenly, the familiar warmth of his fingers enveloped her hands, and he quickly closed the distance between them. "I am happy that you're worried about me Kagome, but I'll be fine."

Eh boy. This was not quite turning out how she had expected but -  _but she was going to let him have this one_. She remembered how alone in the world she had felt when her dad passed away. Kouga did not seem like the type of person to voice that loneliness. So, for once, she'd let him grab her hands and spurt out his nonsense. Because he needed it.

"I know."

-P-

_"Kouga… it's okay if you need help_."

Sweat dripped from his back as he violently sat up in his bed. His face turned ashen while his hands clammed up, his fingers crisping around his beige sheets. The pulse of his heart was visible on his neck as his heartbeat kept increasing. He wiped the build up of sweat on his upper lip and leaned into his wooden headboard.  _What the fuck was that_? His peaceful rest had been interrupted by a vivid flash that shook him through his core. He had a dream? Was it a dream? Kagome was in it… she was talking to him but - he - he did not remember that moment between them.

She spoke of his father.

She spoke of his death.

He cleared his throat, his mind nothing more than a cloud of confusion. It was not a dream.

 _It was a memory_.

He had — a new memory?

He stretched the skin of his face downwards with the palms of his hands, realization settling in. He had mentioned it but he had not been sure - her back and forth  _did_  affect the timeline. Whatever he said, whatever they did… it had an impact. Else, this would have happened already, it would not be a new memory. For him, he had gone on his way, and Kagome had followed her path. All of this, had led to the destruction of Naraku and the destruction of the jewel. Could their meeting impact the major events of the timeline? What was necessary? What could not be changed?

 _Fuck_.

No, it could not work like that. Time could not work like this. He did not give a shit about time travels and rules. He refused to believe it would end up like this. Perhaps it would change a few things here and there, but it was impossible that his presence in her life would affect the outcome of the battle. It could not. They were not great friends back then, and they were acquaintances now.  _It was fine_. He was just panicked and startled because of this new memory. The feel of it had turned his mind numb and it made nauseous.

Was it because it was the first time or would it always be like this?

Shit, there was no way he was going back to sleep now.

What the fuck was this supposed to mean?

-P-

"Wacdonald's?"

" _Hey_ , I spend my time running around. I deserve this."

He chuckled as he sat down in front of her. She had sent him a quick message as she had popped back into this side of the well, and he had answered. He knew the final exams were coming and he assumed this was the reason for her few days trip to the modern era. He had not seen her in weeks, and he had yet to be plagued with another memory, which led him to assume everything was back as it should be. After all, if she had changed anything else, he would have known by now.

"How are things over there?"

She shrugged. "It's okay." She shook her head. "Almost got killed by a moth-demon, but we made it out."

"A moth-demon?"

"Yeah, he was trying to use us to make a new body - it's complicated."

"I'm surprised you don't hang out with your friends more often. You'd have a lot to talk about."

"You mean before or after they have me locked up in an asylum?"

They shared a laughter as she softly shook her head; it was strange to be able to talk about her days like this. Any time she saw her friends, she had to make up stories and with her mother - well, she tried to keep the danger to a minimum. She was not lying to her but she did not want to overly worry for nothing. It honestly sounded a lot worse than it actually was. Sure, she almost died a couple of times, but usually it worked out in the end.

"Any meetings with a dashing young man?"  _Of course_ , he already knew the answer to that question.

"A dashing young man? No. I did see this  _annoying_  guy -"

"Let me guess, he called you his woman?"

"Yeah, about that," she said with a smile. "Any tips on trying to get you to… not call me that?"

"Tough luck. I was pretty in love with you." There was a pause. "Back then."

Kagome purposefully omitted the little situation that happened. He was not bringing it up, which meant he did not know and it changed nothing for him. In that case, why should she be making a big deal out of a tiny slip up? There was no reason for it.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"If you are - were - so in love with me. Why did you keep leaving?" He had proclaimed his love for her on top of the mountain, he kept calling her his woman… but he easily walked away. It did not make sense to her.

He offered her a shrug of the shoulders. "You know, all that cocky? It's kinda for show." Alright - he was a cocky person, but a little bit of it was for appearance. "I did kinda realize you might not be that into me," he pointed out. After all, he was stubborn but not blind. "I just figured that if I showed you I was better than him, you'd end up seeing it."

"But you would leave?"

"Because it was clear that you wanted to be with your pack. I couldn't stay there or me and muttface would kill each other." She smiled at the use of the nickname. "But I wasn't gonna take ya away. I mean, I kidnapped you once, and that got me slapped. I kinda gave up on that plan."

" _Yeah_ , I would say sorry, but you did deserve it."

"You're the first and only woman who's ever slapped me."

"I have a hard time believing that."

He displayed a wide grin at her comment. To be fair, he had not gone out of his way to look for someone. She was most likely right; back then, he probably could have found someone to slap him. It had taken him a long time to shed the cockiness - and some would stay he still had not. However, in his older age, he had learn to pick and chose his battles. Especially now that his people were a mere memory.

"I guess I'm not that good at the flirting game."

"Well, if you cut out the kidnapping, you're not that bad." He was not a bad guy - he had never been. It was quite swooning to proclaim your love for someone while on top of a mountain. "My friends thought so."

Now he was intrigued. "Your friends?"

"You might have come up - but I think they pictured you differently."

He laughed. "No tail?"

"Can you imagine?"

He ignored the little ping he felt in his chest at the thought that she had mentioned him before. "Hopefully you weren't too good at describing me, or we might have some problems."

 _He was her teacher_  - it was their teacher as well. It did not cross her mind that Wacdonald might actually be too public for this type of meeting. She might not see him often, but her friends did attend their classes as they should and would probably be able to pick him out of a crowd… that was not good.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, sorry… I got… lost in thoughts." She cleared her throat. "So, any gossips about me?"

"No, but your boyfriend worries about you a lot."

"My boyfriend?"

"Hojo?"

She groaned. "Really? Still?"

Granted, she had never properly turned him down… but she had no time to do that. Plus, he was not a bad guy and she did not want to hurt his feelings.

"You have a trail of suitors - in both eras."

Her reaction worried him; was that how she reacted when he sped through the forest to meet up with her back in the feudal era? "How annoying am I?"

"What do you mean?"

"Other me."

"Oh. Well, you're not  _annoying_. You've saved me a couple of times. I think you're persistent."

"Pushy," he corrected.

"Pushy, but Kouga, you were never a bad guy."

"It was fine once I left?"

"That's not what I meant."

"It's fine, I know I was very driven. I wanted to kill that bastard.  _Before you_."

"Before me?"

"It might have suited you when I left you with your pack, but it suited me too. I wanted to get him before you."

"Why?"

"So he wouldn't hurt you," he said honestly. "Naraku used people's weaknesses. You were mine. I saw what he did to my pack and I was scared he'd do it to you too. I didn't care what happened to me as long as you were safe. If I found him first while you and were pack were looking for him, it was better. I wanted you as far away as danger as possible."

She stared at him, wide eyed. Kouga had been hard to pin down for her. They barely talk, she knew nothing about his life or his past. She did find it strange that he kept leaving despite proclaiming his love for her but she did not think further into the matter. Now that he was offering this new perspective, she felt an ache in her heart. There were many things she did not know about him. Actually, she did not know him at all. It was the first time that she was offered this point of view, and it hurt a little. He was a good guy, he was protective and he was suffering. She felt bad for all those times she might have been able to help.

But she did not know.

"I'm sorry."

He frowned. "About what?"

"I didn't - I didn't know you."

He had to stop making her sad and feeling guilty all the time. "Hey, it's not your fault."

"But you were -"

"No," he cut her off. "It's not like I was going about it the right way. You didn't know me because I didn't let you know me." He ran his fingers through his long locks, trying to find the right words. "I thought just me being me was enough. I was a cocky bastard, and I thought that would pay off." In the end, it did not.

It was not until he completely let go of his ego that he realized the truth; Kagome would always love Inuyasha. It was at that moment that he bid her farewell for real. Obviously, she knew she was never going to pick him, but he gave her the closure he needed. It also let her know that he would not be popping out of a bush to  _claim_  her again. They were  _friends_  and nothing more.

"You thought that kidnapping me was the way to woo me?"

"It's not my fault you modern women are so picky."

She exploded into a laughter, her shoulders vibrating with the sound. "Yes, if I had been from the feudal era, you would have won me over."

But she was not - and that was why he fell for her in the first place. She was different, she was feisty - she was everything he wanted and everything he  _needed_.

"If I had known sooner, I wouldn't have wasted my time," he said with a smirk.

And if she had known about him a little sooner, she might have interacted with him differently. She could have helped him and she could have led him to realize that they could all take down Naraku together. There was no reason the two of them should have been working towards the same goal at different pace. Kouga had valid reasons to want him dead and - he should be able to hunt him down with them. She knew that him and Inuyasha would probably kill each other if they traveled together… and Kouga from the past did not have the same maturity has the Kouga sitting in front of her… but… what if it was possible?

She did not want him to get killed. He could not take Naraku down by himself. Clearly, he had not died since he was standing in front of her, but that did not mean nothing happened. Perhaps it was possible for them to be in this fight together. And Kouga had two of the shards… at some point, they were going to need him  _and them_. At this point it sounded like an absolutely insane plan but… it felt like the fair thing to do. Granted, she could not just whip it up and propose it… but what if it could work?

Kouga deserved to avenge his pack and he needed a win.

Why should he fight on his own?

Naraku was stronger than all of them, and at this point - jewel or not - she was not even convinced that they could take him down.

But she was not going to tell him that. "But how could you resist the school girl uniform?"

He chortled. "It makes more sense now."

Actually, he did not know how he did not make the connection until now. He had seen her run around in that outfit for  _years_. Then again, what was the vague memory of an outfit at that point?

"There was nothing more…practical?"

"I'm used to it." It was not always the smartest plan but it worked. "Plus, it's easier for when I have to travel back and forth all the time."

"Good point."

She laughed with him, slowly planning her new idea. It would be perfect.

As long as they did not kill each other….

-P-


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Not dead. For once, it was for good news. I had a promotion, so I had to change work location and move and it's been hectic. Plus, I started my masters part-time at night. SO, I'm all over the place, aha. 
> 
> But I'm alive.

_This was ridiculous_.

And yet she was doing it.

Kagome wrapped her fingers around Kirara's soft beige fur, insuring her own safety. Kirara was usually always mindful of the riders on her back, but Kagome had experienced a few falls during her time in the feudal era. She tried to scan the ground, hoping to spot the youkai she was seeking. It was insane, and she should not be doing this but she was. Kouga's -  _future Kouga -_ words had stayed with her and she was unable to convince herself that the pressure in her chest was nothing. She had a bad feeling about what he might do and she attempting to prevent his future actions. Granted, he had made it long enough to reach her era… but it did not mean that carelessness did not follow him around.

He wanted to protect  _her_. He was risking his own life and the life of his pack for something that could be prevented. He did not have to venture on his own, he did not need to carry around more battle wounds.

They could all work together and fight the evil together.

Of course - that meant getting Inuyasha and Kouga to join forces…

Technically, she was fairly convinced that Kouga would not be too hard to persuade. Yes, he was seeking Naraku on his own to protect her  _but_ , he, unlike Inuyasha, had one particular weakness; her. He loved her. She was not going to manipulate his feelings, she was not going to lie to him. However, if she shared her predicaments, and fears with him, his feelings for her might convince him to do the right thing. Granted, he was not like the other Kouga. He would not be calm, he would not keep a distance between them. This Kouga - was a little pushy. But - if he could age and become more mature, he had the potential all along. Perhaps if they actually became friends, they could get to that type of relationship.

Either that, or she was completely delusional and her plan was going to backfire.

The latest option appeared more likely…

But she would put her fate into her optimism.

A  _meow_  tore her away from her thoughts. Kagome looked down at Kirara only to see her neko friends staring at a spot in the midst of the forest;  _Kouga_. She petted Kirara's head, watching the neko brush up against her palm.  _"Thank you Kirara_."

Immediately, she began their plunge to the ground, the intensity of the wind forcing Kagome to close her eyes to shield them. Before they even reached the ground, Kouga had already caught whiff of her scent and he was  _patiently_  waiting for her. By the time she opened her eyes again, he was standing right in front of her Kirara, his hands on his hips while Ginta and Hakkaku waited behind him, giant grins on their faces. They usually ran after Kagome - it had never happened that it was the other way around. They was not certain if it was a good thing or if they should be concerned that Kagome had sought them out.

Now that she had found him, Kagome did feel a little silly to propose that they team up. It was not a thought he had ever shown any kind of interest in such a proposition. She was only doing this based on the information she had gathered from his future self. Plus, she was more than familiar with his stubbornness and f he was indeed trying to protect her from danger… he would not be easily convinced. But - she was here trying regardless.

"Kouga… I- I'm here to ask you something."

Before she could even blink, he closed the distance between them, his ponytail swinging around his head. "Kagome, you're my woman. Anything ya need, I'll do for ya."

 _Oh boy_. Hopefully he would stick to these words. "Do you want to travel with us?"

Apparently these were the perfect words to speak if she wanted to give him a heart attack. He suddenly fell silent, his body slouching backwards. He was staring straight at her, but he was not saying anything. She did not know if it was from shock or from hesitation.

"Kouga?"

Had she broken him? She had to remember that the Kouga she had gotten close to was not this one. Maybe she had been too familiar with him?

"Travel?" Of all the requests he expected from her - this was not one of them. He had wanted to stay by her side but obligations had torn him away from her. His pack needed him, especially now after everything they had endured. He could not leave them behind with no certainty as to when he would return.

Most of all, she had never offered before… She had often been hesitant in his presence - most of it due to Inuyasha's attitude - but he had been confident that she would eventually see the truth of things and realize he was a much better option than the mutt face. Was this it? Was this the moment when she came to her senses? Granted, she was keeping a distance between them and it did not quite sound like the love declaration he had given her but… it was something.

"Yes," she confirmed. How was she going to explain this to him without giving him any kind of false hopes? It appeared to be an unlikely tast. "You wanted Naraku dead… and so do we." Kagome did not want another person to lose their life in this fight. "Wouldn't it be better if we all took him down together?"

Slowly, he took a step forward. Warm fingers glided across her skin as he captured her fingers with his. His much larger hands covered hers as he met her gaze, a glistening in his blue orbs. "Kagome," he began, seriousness filling his deep voice. "I could never put you in danger like this."

Finding Naraku before she did - it was his way of protecting her. Perhaps Inuyasha did not mind throwing Kagome into danger but Kouga had a different point of view when it came down to her safety. He made it his priority. She was his woman and she was part of his pack; her safety meant everything to him. She knew she was capable of defending herself and the pack, which she had proven during their fight with the birds of paradise. However, that did not mean he wanted her on the frontline. Naraku was not a regular enemy and he did not play by the rules. He focused on weaknesses and in breaking bonds. Kouga refused to underestimate him again. What kind of mate would he be if he was not willing to lay his life down for her?

"Kouga, I don't need to be protected."

No she had always gracefully handled her bow in the past. No, she had not always been familiar with this era, but things had changed. She could do more than before and she could stand on her own two feet.

"I know. I wasn't tryin' to insult ya, Kagome." He squeezed her hands a little tighter. Her attitude and fire were the things that drew him to her in the first place. "I wouldn't be taking care of my woman if I let ya get hurt."

And now Kagome found herself at a crossroad. She refused to encourage his ideas that she was his woman - but she did not want him in harm's ways. She knew that they could have a nice, light relationship - as friends. His future self had shown her that. Of course, she was assuming that it would be possible to do the same now. Maybe there were some events that needed to happen to him so that he could become the person he was in the modern era but… She knew that person was inside Kouga. Despite his constant advances, she could see what kind of person he was. He was kind, he loved his pack and he would die for those he loved.

He could get injured, he could lose more than he had to lose. She knew Ginta and Hakkaku made it… but he probably lost others. She was tired of Naraku stealing from them, taking lives left and right. Also, now that she knew this fight came to an end at some point… there was hope. This could be done. Life was life. Maybe she was supposed to see Kouga in the future - maybe this Kouga and her were always supposed to work together to battle Naraku. Things did not happen randomly. She did not get pulled into the well by mistakes - coincidences had been scarce and far apart. She had to do this.

"Kouga, nothing will happen to me. We'll be stronger as a group."

"I can do this by myself." His honor was on the line. Naraku had stripped him from his pack and he had to retake what had been stolen from him.

" _Kouga_." She did not know what words to use to convince him, what lines would make him abandon his pride. She refused to play on his feelings, she would not give him false hopes. It would only make the situation more complicated and it would absolutely ruin any chance they might have at traveling as a group. She needed  _something_ , anything. "We want the same thing. We should be working together."

She was not pulling away from his grip, and she was not uncomfortable. No, instead she was  _begging_  him to join her. Honor demanded that he protected her. His pride demanded that he freed her from danger and died for her if need be. But, but  _his_  Kagome was standing in front of him,  _begging_  him to come with her. How the  _fuck_  was he supposed to say no to that? He said he would fight the hanyou for her, that he would make her see that he was the right choice for her. Would it not be easier to do if he was by her side? Surely, if he was with her - she would see the difference between the two of them and see that he was the superior one…

He bowed his head forward. "Kagome, if this is whatcha want, I'll do anything to make my woman happy."

 _Alright_ , not quite the answer she wanted but… "It'll be good for us, all of us - as a group." And now it was back to being uncomfortable.

"We'll be traveling with sis!"

It was a dream come true - that and Kagome's pack did not  _tornado away_  at the speed of light like Kouga did. Over were the days when they had to chase after him like their lives depended on it.

Kouga finally released Kagome's hands and stared right ahead into the horizon. Kagome felt relief wash over her - but it was not long live.

"Time to show muttface who's in charge."

 _Crap_.

Before words were out of her mouth, he was already heading in the direction of the forest, leaving a trail of dust behind. " _Kouga!_ You can't fight him!" Great. Now she did not have time to  _prepare_  the others - or lay down some ground rules. She should have known this plan was doomed from the beginning.  _What did she do_?

A hand rested upon her shoulder and she nearly jumped out of her skin. "Little sister, he can't hear you."

"He's long gone."

"Didn't think he'd leave sis behind though…"

"Maybe he wants to take care of Inuyasha first."

She needed to get there and fast. " _Kirara!_ "

Hopefully she could make it back in time before they killed each other…

-P-

" _Did that just happen_?"

Kouga slicked back his bangs with his fingers before leaning into his chair. "Afraid so."

" _But - it_ was not… that ain't how it went down."

"I know."

"Why are you so calm about this?"

"What is happening?"

Kouga sighed. He had hoped he would keep this to himself. He did not think that Kagome's actions would mess up anyone else's memories. But they had. "Kagome."

"What about sis?"

" _She's_ \- she's been changing things."

"What do you mean changing things?"

"I mean, since I met her in this … era. Things are different."

Hakkaku frowned. "Ain't time - fixed?"

"I —" He did not know enough about this shit to say if this was normal. He had also believed that what happened - happened. But, Kagome was showing him a different perspective. "I don't know."

"So wait - Naraku dying… The good guy winning…"

"It could all go away?" Ginta finished for him.

"I don't know. Maybe it still happens. I mean - if they could take him down, for sure they can do it with us." He could hardly believe that them being  _more_  could ruin it all. Then again - what if they did not get the shards they needed, what if… something important was altered. It was all up in the air.

"You have to tell her."

"I can't."

He knew Kagome. If she knew she had changed things, she would feel guilty and trying to fix what she had done… it might make it worse. She had already changed their timeline. At this point - all they could do was hope for the best.

"But if she keeps doing it…"

"Anything she does from now on is  _new_ ," Kouga pointed out. "We never traveled with them."

"Yeah, and we're still here right?"

"What do you mean?"

"We still win. Or things would be much different right?"

Hopefully.

-P-

"Kagome would  _never_  do that you stupid wolf."

"And I'm tellin' ya she did."

"I'm gonna slice you in half."

Kagome let out a sigh as she closed the distance between her and her friends.  _At least they were still alive_. At this point it was the only good news she could see. "Right here Kirara," she whispered to her neko friends. As close as possible to Inuyasha and Kouga was the best option.

" _Inuyasha stop_."

Already his sword was out, ready to fulfill the words he had spoken.

" _Kagome_. Keh!" Finally, she would be able to confirm that the damn wolf had lost his mind. "Tell that mangy wolf he's out of his damn mind."

Oh boy, that would not go well. "Inuyasha, I invited him to join us."

"You did  _what_?"

While the feeling of shock took over Inuyasha's body, his mouth hanging and his heavy sword dropping to the ground, Kouga's chest was swelling with pride. He had a smirk on his face as he crossed his arms in front of his chest; he had told the mutt but he had refused to listen to reason.

 _This would never work_.

"Lady Kagome, you have invited the wolf pack to join us?"

"Why?" Shippo bluntly asked.

"I just -  _argh_. We all want the same thing okay. We all want to kill Naraku. Why aren't we doing it together?" As if that was an explanation that Inuyasha would ever accept.

" _Because that stupid wolf wants you_ ," Inuyasha said as he snapped back to reality. "Keh. I get it now. You want the wolf."

 _This again_. "Inuyasha -  _sit!_ " No warning, no yelling. She did not want him to put ideas in Kouga's head. He already had an overly active imagination of his own, and she did not need it to derail. She was doing this because it was the right thing to do. "Kouga is our friend. He helped us in the past, and he lost a lot. Naraku  _is_  stronger than us. He gets us at every turn, he leads us into his traps… we'll need everyone if we want to finish this." Any time they thought they were one step forward, he showed them that they were two steps back. "Naraku wants to divide us, turn us against each other. He knows we're stronger together. Why are we letting him win?"

How many traps had he set up for them? How many times did he try to fool them into thinking one of them had betrayed the other?

"It's what he does Inuyasha."  _And then came the argument she could not stomach_. "It's what he did to you and Kikyo." She did not like it, but what else was she supposed to say? Betrayal was Naraku's weapon of choice.

Inuyasha was back on his feet, brushing off the dirt from his clothes. At the mention of Kikyo's name, he was forced to stare away from Kagome's face, unable to hold her gaze. "Keh. I can kill that bastard myself." Some of Kagome's arguments were valid - not that he would tell her that. He still did not want to work with that fucking wolf. Kouga's number one priority was to get Kagome and Inuyasha refused to believe this alliance was done purely to stop Naraku. Only Kagome would be foolish enough to believe that.

"Then why haven't you  _mutt_ face?"

" _Kouga_ ," Kagome warned. Since she could not sit  _him_ , it made controlling him a little bit more difficult. "Your taunting is not helping."

"Kagome -"

"We have to work together."

"I agree with Kagome."

Heads turned to look at Sango, and Kagome felt relief build up inside of her. It would be easier if she was not the only one trying to bring forth this alliance. She knew it was unexpected but - but the Kouga from the future had worried her. She did not come here to watch people sacrifice themselves. She wanted to help as many people as she could. He might have made it to the modern era, but it probably came with some costs. Maybe even more members of his pack.

"Why are you all against me?"

Kagome resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Inuyasha, nobody is against you." There it was; the reason for his rage. Inuyasha felt like he was being replaced. Kagome knew his past had not been easy and he was used to being chased away but it was not what they were doing. "I told you I'd stay by your side, and I will."

She made that promise back when she knew Inuyasha's feelings for Kikyo. She knew she would fight for him to live, she would fight to stay by his side and to show him that all the pain he had endured was over. She did that knowing that in the end, his heart belonged to someone else. Nothing would change the promise that she made. Nothing would make her go back on her word. She was not inviting Kouga to hurt him, she was not doing any of this to punish him.

"Keh, I don't care about that. You can leave for all I care."

Kagome's hands fisted at her side and she took a deep breath in a foolish attempt to hold herself back from speaking the one little word that would send him flying into the ground. He was trying to get to her, he was trying to push her away because it was what he did. Whenever Inuyasha got hurt, he lashed out.

" _Listen_ ," she began through gritted teeth. "Whenever Kikyo shows up,  _you_  go see her and I don't say anything. I'm not putting anything on hold, I'm not stopping our fight."

"Oi, I don't -"

"Sit!"

And  _thud_.

"I'm not done," she said as she took a step forward in his direction. Dirt covered his long silver hair as his face was still lodged into the ground. "I'm not asking you to like Kouga, I'm not asking you to be his friends. But they  _are_  going to travel with us."

"Listen  _wench_ ," he began as he tore his face away from the mud.

" _Sit_."

And again.

" _Sit, sit, sit, sit_."

Everyone made sure to keep a distance, not wanting to further aggravated Kagome. Her hair was forming a curtain around her face, her fists were tugging at the green fabric of her skirt and her blue eyes were shining with a red rage. She was trying to do this calmly, she had even given him a chance. This was no time for stubbornness. They could not possibly waste a day doing this.

"Why  _you_."

"Inuyasha, Kouga and his pack are traveling with us and that's that. Find a way to like it." She crossed her arms in front of her chest, before huffing and looking away from him. Her heart was hammering in her chest, a trail of sweat beads traveling down her spine as she tried to keep her prideful demeanour. He had not wanted Sango, Miroku or Shippo to travel with them and they had. It had turned out just fine. He needed to step on his ego and realize that this was the best plan. She knew he was not used to inviting strangers in his life and that he did not trust many people but… that had to change. Things were different now and he was no longer a little kid all by himself. He had people who cared for him. He had  _her_.

"Or you can find yourself another  _jewel_  detector."

Inuyasha put his hands flat on the ground and finally managed to dig himself out of the hole. She had buried him deep this time. She  _really_  wanted the wolf to be with them and he did not like it. Why did she care so much about that mangy wolf?

"Keh, woman. Do what you want."

It was the only words he spoke to her before turning around, allowing her to face his back.

"Inuyasha…"

But her words fell on deaf ears. Inuyasha slowly walked away from her, his hair swaying with the wind as he took firm steps in direction of the forest. This was what he did. Whenever he felt betrayed, he isolated himself. Kagome had brought this up upon him and she would have to be careful. If Inuyasha felt left out… she did not want him to lash out or make stupid decisions. Nothing about the core of their group was being shaken up and destroyed. He needed it to understand that it was okay to include others.

But she would have to watch herself and make sure…  _neither_  of them got the wrong idea about what was happening here. What had she gotten herself into?

"Kagome?"

She sighed before giving Sango her attention. "Yeah?"

"How do you plan on explaining to Kouga when you…  _go home_?"

Ah  _crap_.

-P-

A  _happy_  family.

Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Kagome were all sitting around the fire, some ramen boiling on top of the fire. Inuyasha had wait to return from his little walk and Kagome was beginning to worry. How mad at her was he? She knew that Kouga and Inuyasha often argued but she figured most of it was for show and pride. Deep down, there was a twisted friendship between the two of them. Now she was not as sure as before. She had not thought this through. Although her concern might not be warranted; he might simply be with Kikyo. He was honest with her, he bore his heart out and he told her everything, even when he should not…

Suddenly the sound of a branch cracking brought her out of her thoughts, forcing her to look up. Except the figure she saw did not belong to Inuyasha.

Kouga's face appeared from the shadows and Ginta and Hakkaku followed closely behind. "I brought dinner," he said with a smirk.

This was his chance at stealing Kagome away and he was not about to let it go to waste. He would prove to her that he was superior to Inuyasha in every way possible. That started with providing her with a decent meal, something Inuyasha clearly was not interested in doing. Kouga was not happy about traveling with the stinking dog, but he did it -  _for her_. Inuyasha was not youkai enough to return the same courtesy. Hopefully Kagome would be able to see the difference between the two of them.

Kouga pulled fishes from behind his back before throwing them in front of the fire.

In the past, Kagome might have had a reaction to raw fish being thrown in front of her but that was no longer a thing. She was used to the cruder ways of the feudal era. Shippo was already on it as he hopped from the tree log where they had been sitting and retrieved one of his sticks. He poked the fishes through and give the brochette of fish to Kagome. She put it to cook on the fire and sat back down.

Cooking the fishes?  _Humans were weird_. Kouga himself would have eaten it raw, but if that was how his woman ate, he would go with it.

"What is sis doing to the fish?" Ginta whispered.

"I- I think she's cooking it…" Hakkaku replied in the same hushed voice.

"Shut it you two," Kouga warned. "Where's muttface?"

Kagome's eyes narrowed. "Kouga, don't call him that." She sighed. "He's not back yet."

"I'm sure he's fine Lady Kagome."

"I think I'll go look for him." She knew he was mad at her right now and she was probably the last person he wanted to see but… maybe if they could talk one on one instead of in front of the whole group… he might just understand.

"I'll come with ya."

"Kouga - please. Let's not make things worse." She knew he had done nothing wrong and she was the one who had invited him to join their group but… but if she showed up with Kouga that would not help the situation at all.

He wanted to argue, he wanted to point out that the woods could be a dangerous place in the night but - but he said nothing. Instead he nodded. Now, it did not mean that he would actually listen to his woman, but he would act so though he would.

"I'll be right back," Kagome said as she grabbed her bow and arrows from the ground;  _just in case_.

She took slow, quiet steps as she headed into the depth of the forest. Inuyasha could not have gone far; no matter how mad he was, she knew he would not abandon the group. He would stay within earshot in the eventuality that they came under attack. But, it did not mean that finding him would be easy; he could be anywhere, including up in the trees. Wherever he was, he did not want to be found. She tried to see, the moonlight being her only guidance. She popped her lips as her shoulders crouched with resignation. As Kagome stared down at the ground, a bright white light attracted her attention. Her heart stopped, her blood froze and she forced herself to swallow as it dawned upon her. She knew what she would see once she raised her head; Kikyo's soul collectors.

Now she knew where to find him.

She knew he was  _safe._  Or as safe as he could be with Kikyo.

Kagome found out what she needed to know. Now it was the time to walk away. Yet, her body did not listen to her; instead of walking back to camp, she was following the soul collectors. She took slow steps at first but then she picked up her pace. Her heart was racing, her blood pulsing as tears began to poodle in her eyes; why did she do this to herself? She did not have a chance to answer her own question that she was graced with a familiar sight; Inuyasha and Kikyo. Her heart sunk and she finally came to a halt. He  _was_  with her. He was in pain and he went to her because - because she was the woman he loved.

It did not matter how many adventures and struggles they had; his heart would always belong to her. She knew that, she always did. But - she was unable to shut off her feelings for him. She felt a tear escape her, slid down her cheeks. It felt warm against the cold air of the night and she wrapped her arms around herself.  _She had to go_. Her lips were parted, her eyes red from the tears as she turned around -  _to come face to face with Kouga_.

He was a few steps away from her, his blue eyes shinning in the night. His stance was defensive as his glance went from her face to the scene behind her. There was nothing she could or say to explain, to hide it. She was bare in front of him and she felt a ping of pain in her heart. She did not want anyone to see this side of her. Especially not Kouga. He was nice - but he was hotheaded. She did not need him to create a scene, she did not want him to start a fight with Inuyasha, or use this in one of his love speech.

Now was not the time for it.

"K-kouga." Her voice was failing her.

That was mutt face - he was sure of it. For a second, he thought the woman by his side was Kagome, but it was not. No, his Kagome was standing in front of him, tears staining her face. He could feel his blood pumping, his fists itching to bury themselves in Inuyasha's face. How could he do this to her? How could he fend him off all the time, and yet chose another over Kagome? And Kagome? She knew. He could tell from the pain in her eyes. This was not unexpected. Why did she stay with that mutt face? Why did she defend him? He wanted to launch himself at Inuyasha and teach him a lesson…

But Kagome was there.

Saying his name. Silently begging him.

He leaned forward, ready to ignore her pleas, ready to restore her honor and protect her heart.

"Please."

His body was tense, his muscles were pulsing and Kagome swallowed before taking a step forward. She did not want a fight, she did not want someone to protect her. She had gotten herself in this situation.

Surprisingly… he listened.

Despite every inch of him telling him to go after Inuyasha, to beat him to a pulp, he stayed where he stood and offered her the smallest nod. It broke his heart. It was not just about Kagome's honor, it was about her heart. She was his woman, and she should never cry like this. He wanted to hold her, he wanted to wipe away her tears… but he did not. She walked past him, holding back a sob, her arms swinging by her side. Her hand came close to his as she walked by, and he let himself fall, he reached out, his fingers brushing up against hers. Nothing less, nothing more. And then she was gone, leaving a feeling of emptiness.

Kouga dared to throw a glance in direction of Inuyasha and his woman, cursing him. He did not deserve Kagome. He always knew this, but this event confirmed it. He would not let Inuyasha have her. He would hold back who he was, he would go against every fiber of his body of he had to, but he would not let Inuyasha have her. She deserved so much better - she deserved someone who loved her and only her. He managed to tear his eyes away from the awful scene, and he re-focused his attention to Kagome. She was a nothing more than a shadow in the darkness now. He would wait. He would give her a moment before he joined her at the camp.

By the time Kagome made it to camp, she had dried her eyes as best she could, but she did not know how much of it she could fake. Once her friends came in view, they watched her come in with smiles on their faces. "Kagome, did you find Inuyasha?"

"I did. Hm, Sango. Can I borrow Kirara?"

"Is everything okay?"

"I - I forgot something home. I'll come back early tomorrow." She needed the night. Just a night away to compose herself and then she would be all better and everything would be back the way it was.

"Sure." Sango did not believe a word Kagome had spoken… but she knew the real reason why she had to go home.  _Inuyasha_.

"Home? Sis where do you live?"

"It's far." It was not an answer and she knew it would come with more questions, but she could not handle it. "Thank you Sango."

She wanted to leave, she wanted to get out before Kouga came back to camp. He would look at her with those eyes - or he might try to right some wrongs… and she could not handle it. Not tonight. She hopped on Kirara and allowed the wind to dry away her tears.

 _She could do this_.

She chose to do this.

She would stay by his side.

-P-


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: HI IM NOT DEAD. :D PLZ LOVE ME, DONT HATE ME :D. (I'm tired can you tell?)

Her heart was stuck in her throat as she managed to climb out of the well, each seconds passing ripping her heart apart. Her body felt like a lead by the time she managed to pull herself over the edge. The well house was surrounded by darkness, a small light peeking through the bottom of the door. Once her feet landed on the wooden floor, she swallowed hard. Her shaky fingers reached out for the door and she slid it open. As she stared at the ground, she suddenly found herself looking at a pair of dark blue running shoes. Said shoes were on a pair of feet that were too big to belong to her little brother… She slowly raised her glance only to find herself staring at…  _Kouga_.

He stood in front of her, his hands in his pocket, a sheepish look on his face.

Kouga had not meant to come, he truly did not. It was hardly his fault that she was running through the past, changing everything. It created vivid, fresh memories for him. Including the sight of her, broken hearted, running back home. He should have let her be with her family, hide in her room, or whatever it was she needed to do to heal from this. As per her reaction, it had dawned upon him that  _she knew about this._ It was not the first time this happened to her. It was not the first time mutt face made her cry.

"I-  _I_  wanted to remind you about the bake sale."  _Nope_. Well, yes, it was happening but… what was he supposed to tell her? Thought you might need a shoulder to cry on?

She wanted to speak but her bottom lip was quivering. Kagome had managed to hold back all of her feelings and contain her pain. She had walked past Kouga -  _the other_ Kouga - and she had made it. But now? Now, she was losing all of her strength. This was different. This Kouga was not into her. She could not  _hurt_  his feelings or give him false hope. He was a friend and a friend was exactly what she needed. She did not want someone to drown her pain, she did not want to forget about it.

She just wanted to let it out.

"Right, c-cookies."

He chuckled. " _Best cookies_."

She managed to smile but it only caused a tear to roll down her cheek. "I'll be t-there." She was supposed to come back at first light but… it could wait right? She could do something  _for_  herself. What would be the harm in that.

" _Hey_ listen -"

"I'm okay." He knew what happened. He knew what happened because he was there.

"About…"

"I don't wanna talk about it."

"I know."

"Good."

She wiped the invisible tears on her cheeks before she finally took her first step forward. "I-I should go in."

He nodded. "I should go home."

Why did he run here? Why did he come? What could he possibly change about anything? He could not. It had felt so recent, so real to him that he had come running like an imbecile. He had been so upset in the past, feeling so useless, that the feelings had transferred to his present self. Maybe the boys had been right; maybe he was supposed to tell her about this before he began to act like a complete moron. Although right now, her emotions were running too high for her to realize that his presence was weirdly timed.

He should let her go.

"Yeah, of course. Sorry."

She nodded, unable to force herself to speak more words than this. She walked past him, her skin pale, her body shaking. As she was about to make it past him, she felt the faintest touch of fingertips against her left wrist. His touch was warm and it forced a shake out take of air to rumble her chest. He had not meant to stop her, but the memory of her watching the one she loved … love someone else? It was burning through his head like a scene that he could not forget.

"I'll see ya tomorrow."

She nodded, the tears spilling upon her cheeks. If she turned around, she would have to smile and she would not be able to do that. Instead, she waited a beat, and once the moment passed, she merely tugged and he let her go freely. The cold air wrapped itself around her body as she walked away from the well house and towards her house. It was not the first time she felt like this and it would not be the last. She made a promise and she would stick by it, no matter what.

Tomorrow would be a new day.

-P-

He knew that scent.

As Kouga's nose wrinkled, he lifted his head to stare in direction of the door. As he had expected, he saw Kagome walk into the gymnasium, her arms locked behind her green school skirt. She was staring around, her eyes glazing over all of the different treats that were displayed in front of her. If he did not know better, he would be unable to say that she had been upset last night. Her eyes were dry, her smile was back and her aura packed a punch as per usual. He could not even smell the sadness on her; only her sweet vanilla scent. He kept staring at her, waiting for her to put her eyes on him. And she did.

She took shy steps in his direction, her lips stretched into a smile. She felt like an  _idiot_. He had seen her meltdown yesterday. Both versions of him had been a witness to her tears actually. She preferred to have these moments in privacy. What were the odds that she would come face to face with the both of them on the very same night?  _And for him to show at the well house…_  That was strange. But none of that mattered. She was here to grab a few cookies and then she would head back to the mission that awaited her. As she let her eyes travel to the crowd of people, her gaze was brought back to him. Hopefully, he would not bring back last night. That moment of weakness had now vanished. She had been overwhelmed by her emotions; first the guilt of bringing Kouga into the group and then the pain from seeing Inuyasha seek solace in Kikyo's cold clay arms. Also, he had not intended on having an audience for her breakdown - that had thrown her off guard completely.

It did not matter. She was back to being herself now and the pain in her heart had lessened. She would stick to her promise despite the pain and the obstacles. Inuyasha deserved to live, not to die with Kikyo and she intended on helping him see the truth.

"Hey," she said as she approached his little booth. Unfortunately he was  _not_  wearing a pink apron. Instead, he had on a black t-shirt along with a pair of jeans. His long hair was wrapped up in a ponytail and he wore a pair of latex white gloves to handle the food.

"I know you couldn't resist the promise of baked goods."

"Actually, I came for the pink apron, and I'm really disappointed." After all, she had only known  _past_  Kouga. These new  _sights_  were a delight for her.

He nodded. "I had it but it was disturbing the school girls," he replied, completely nonchalant.

"You do have a thing for the school girl uniform."

This time, he was forced to wince at her comment; hopefully no one had been in ear shot distance. "Back in the days. I think my new teacher position puts a damper on that."

 _Crap_.

She had forgotten where she was for a moment. She was not used to including Kouga in her modern life. She offered him an apologetic glance before staring down at the goodies and the delicious small that tickled and teased her nostrils. "These better not be expensive. Saving the world costs more than it gives," she said with a chuckle. It was hard to get a paying part-time job when she could barely make it to class.

Most of his students had a little job on the side, making plans about their weekends during class time, but he had none of that. On the plus side, she truly looked better today - which made him feel like an even bigger idiot to have shown up the night before. He probably simply made it way worse for her. "It's on me."

"Oh I have money," she corrected.

"The least I can do is treat my woman," he said with a wink. "What do you want?"

"I'll try whatever you made."

"Brave woman." He chuckled as he picked up four chocolate cookies from the white plastic tray.

"I don't think I'll be able to eat that many," she replied with wide eyes. She was a growing girl but even her stomach had its limits.

He laughed. "Don't worry, you can share." He dropped them in a paper bag and handed it to her. "You're going back no?" She was Kagome; she always put other people's well being before her own.

She nodded. "I think they'll be waiting for me." Including  _him_. "But you probably know that already." Then again, it dated from a long time ago for him. He probably no longer recalled the exact moment that he became a part of their group.

"Right." She thought it was a part of the past - something that always was. He knew he told himself that he would tell her the truth but he would wait. He did not need her to feel guilty on top of being hurt. She had already suffered enough for a lifetime. It would wait.

"I should probably head back." She had to face the reality that awaited her sooner or later. "Thank you for this."

"No problem. Be careful out there."

"I never am," she said with a smile.

"It's fine. I'll be there to protect ya."

"I know." He had saved her life more than once. The more of them were present, the more she believed that they could do this.

She waved him goodbye, the bag of cookies firmly held in her left hand. It was time to face the music.

-P-

A long sigh was drawn out of her small body while Kagome looked up at the green vines. She had not wanted her trip to be wasteful, meaning that she had loaded her trusty yellow bag pack to the point where the poor steams and stitches were crying, threatening to give up. That also meant that she had quite a heavy bag pack to drag out of the well - something she had forgotten.  _Usually_ , Inuyasha waited for her at the top of the well, but whenever she left because of a Kikyo related incident, he was missing. She had to do this climb all on her own. She leaned forward, doing her best to not topple over and grabbed the strongest looking vines that she could find. Before she could give herself her usual little jump boost, she had found herself completely weightless. In the blink of an eye she was blinded by the sun while a gentle breeze tangled up her long locks.  _What in the world_?

As the world around her unblurred, she became painfully aware of the arms that were wrapped around her body. As she glanced up, she recognized the owner of said arms; Kouga.

He gently put her down, while an air of confusion took over his features. He hd quickly caught her scent from miles away after having quickly lost track of it yesterday. He had come sprinting only to be surprised that she was located at the bottom of a well. Originally he had believed that she had fallen and injured herself but he was quickly proven wrong. In that case, he was completely puzzled as to what exactly she had been doing in there. She was also carrying a much bigger bag than when she had left. Kouga had desperately tried to get an answer as to where exactly she had gone but no one had answered him. Heck, they had not even  _seen_  Inuyasha since the little incident in the woods - which Kouga was  _still_  furiously mad about… the nerve of that jerk to do something like to  _his_  Kagome.

"You okay?"

"Mhm, mmhm.," she replied as she glided her hands across her skirt, smoothening it. She was not certain that this Kouga would react as nicely as the other Kouga had and she did not know how ready she was to deal with it all. "Thank you."

"Kagome -"

"I'm fine," she intervened. He had nicely let her go the night that everything had crumbled around her and she hoped that he could act the same way again.

"But -"

"Kouga, I don't  _want_  to talk about it. I'm fine." This time, she was pleading.

What did she see in that mutt face? He would never do this to her, he would never hurt her like that. He was about to make a third attempt at it when he stopped himself. There was pain shining in her beautiful eyes. If he forced her to do this, he would be doing the exact thing that he had just promised that he would never do; hurt her. For her sake, he had to exert some sort of self control. At a loss for words, he did the only thing he could think of; he nodded. When he would have a chance, he would teach that idiot what he was missing out on by leaving Kagome behind like that. He did not deserve her and one day, he would lose her.

Still, his words remained stuck in his throat as he could feel Kagome's sadness and rage rolling off of her skin. He would never make her feel this way, he would never hurt her. He could feel his hands fisting at his sides. And  _what in the world_ had she been doing at the bottom of the well? Where did she go? Why had her scent disappear from the surface of the earth? Most of all, why was no one concerned about it? Had she told everyone but she could not tell him? She was his woman. He had no secrets from her.

As they reached the others, there were a few uncomfortable glances but, they were mostly due to the secret that remained hidden. Her group was used to her time hopping but Kouga and his pack were left in the dark concerning where her home was, leaving it awkward to say anything. Of course, there was also the fact that INuyasha had yet to return from his nightly adventure. Kagome put a smile on her face as she plopped down near her friends. Kouga followed and put her yellow bag down in front of them. She thanked him with a quick nod and then she dragged her bag close to her body.

"Who wants a lollipop?"

-P-

The tension was running high as everybody was walking through the forest, awaiting for the next moment Kagome would sense a shard, r an attack would pop up out of nowhere. Inuyasha was walking ahead, his arms crossed in front of hi chest. Their eyes had briefly met when he had returned from his nightly adventure but neither had said anything. What was there even to say? At the opposite end of Inuyasha was Kouga. He was walking behind everyone, insuring that no on would sneak an attack from behind.. She could also tell that his emotions were mimicking Inuyasha's; he was sulking. She assumed it was mostly due to the fact that he did not understand how she vanished and reappeared and she had yet to explain it to him. She was not sure she had not told him. The conversation had gone well with the other Kouga. Why would it not be the same in this case? Then again, modern Kouga had lived through a lot more experiences and he had broaded his mind. But maybe she could try… She could not sneak away forever. Eventually, she would have to answer…

Still, it would wait a little bit longer. Now was not the time for Inuyasha to see her with Kouga. She had yet to convince him that she had not abandoned him. Kagome's train of thought came to a halt when all youkais present came to a halt. All their noses twitched as they smelled the air.

"What is it?"

Inuyasha was the first to reply. "Blood."

"And lots of it," chimed in Hakkaku and Ginta at the same time.

Kouga for his part remained quiet, his face crisped into a sour expression, which let Kagome to believe that something was seriously wrong. He did not even look at anyone as he dashed forward, leaving nothing but a trail of dust behind.

Again, Inuyasha was the first to react. "Oi." He fisted his hands at his sides. Where did that mangy wolf think that he was going? "Come back here!" It was Inuyasha's turn to speed away, leaving the rest of the group behind, startled.

This could not end nicely was Kagome's only thought as she watched the bright red fire rat robe disappear from sight, "Come," she gestured to the rest of the group. They  _had_  to catch up.

It took them a moment, but when they finally tracked them down, Kagome almost wished that they had not. Inuyasha was standing far from Kouga, watching from a distance. Meanwhile Kouga was kneeling to the ground, running his fingers through bloody brown fur. His body was trembling as he held a dead wolf close to his chest. They were surrounded by patches of grass stained with blood which led Kagome to assumed that the dead wolf present was not the only victim of the massacre. The emotions flowing through Kouga's aura were so intense that even Inuyasha was keeping his lips sealed.

The flashbacks were pouring into Kouga's mind, numbing his body. It was like he was living through his nightmare all over again. His blood was boiling as Naraku's name filled his mind. It had to be that bastard. Who else would so blatantly slaughter wolves pack like this? That asshole had gone free for way too long and it was time to slice his neck open.

"Kouga?"

Kagome's soft voice pulled him out of his fiery rage but he could not find it in himself to look at her. This was exactly why he had been trying to find and kill Naraku without her; he wanted to keep her out of harm's way. He did not know this wolf and it was tearing him apart… if he ever lost her, he would never be able to live with it.

"Are you okay?" she did not wait for him to reply, instead, she began walking in his direction. However, before she could even make it to Kouga, she walked into an arm. Inuyasha's arm stopped her , his glance focused on Kouga. She might ignore danger and walk into it without a care in the world but he was not about to watch her lose her head because of some stupid impulsive wolf.

"He ain't human," he reminded her.

Kagome put her hand on Inuyasha's arm so that she could push it away from her body. "Neither are you. Kouga wouldn't hurt me." Inuyasha had lost control in the past and they had always managed to keep everyone from getting harmed - this was no different. She was not about to let Kouga sit by himself while brainstorming a stupid plan that could get him killed. The whole point of convincing him to travel with them was to protect him. She took quiet and slow steps in his direction while muttering what was probably an insult under his breath. Once she was near Kouga, and that she made sure he was still not startled by her presence, she dropped to her knees.

"Kouga, we're gonna find who did this," she promised.

"Was it him?" The was question was not addressed to her but to someone with a finer nose.

"I don't know, he don't leave a scent. But I can smell  _something_." However, that in no way meant that Naraku was not behind it all. He always had others do his dirty work for him.

Kouga finally tilted his head upwards, allowing Kagome to see the hint of red in his eyes. For a second, he reminded her of the Kouga that he kidnapped her; mercyless. But, that look only remained present in his eyes for a second before it vanished away.

"We'll find whoever did that." Everywhere they went, there was a trail of dead bodies. This whole mess had begun the moment she had come with the jewel.

"How many?" he asked as he turned his head to look at the boys. His own nose was plugged up by the scent of blood coming from the corpse he was holding in his arms, rendering it impossible for him to tell how many died.

Ginta and Hakkaku exchanged a glance, neither wanting to be the bearer of the bad news. After a beat, Hakkaku was the one to take the plunge. "At least fifteen."

Kouga's fingers clenched around the bloody dried fur, his blood rushing through his body as rage seeped through his veins. Usually, if he found himself in such a situation he would charge ahead without giving it any thoughts whatsoever. Unfortunately for him, it was not a luxury that he had at this time. Kagome was right there with him. Despite the fact that he had no doubts that his woman could defend herself, he had no desire to have her follow him into unknown dangers. He could not afford to put her at risk like that.

"Kagome. I need ya to stay here."

She frowned, his words taking a moment to register. He wanted her to do what? "You're not going there by yourself."

"He's right." Inuyasha and Kouga hardly agreed on anything but they had one thing in common; they wanted to keep Kagome safe and out of harm's way.

Kagome turned her head, ready to yell at Inuyasha that she was a big girl who could handle herself, but she never had a chance to speak these words. Instead, she was caught in a whirlwind as Kouga sped away form her, taking advantage of her distraction to slip away from sight. His actions caused Kagome to turn to look at the group with a sudden fear running through her. The last time he had been reckless, he had inserted a fake poisonous shard into his arm and he had almost lost his life!

"That idiot." These were the only words Inuyasha spoke before running after him. Once he left a trail of dust behind, Ginta and Hakkaku were quick to follow. They were not about to let Kouga go on a suicide mission by himself. He was too stubborn for his own good.

Meanwhile Kagome scrambled to her feet, trying to catch up to the others as they sped away. It did not take too long that Miroku, Sango and Shippo were by her side, waiting for her so that they could join the others.

Hopefully it was not too late.

-P-

Three whole fucking packs.

Destroyed, reduced to nothingness. There had been one survivor and he had not been in the best shape, barely rendering him able to share what had happened to him. From what Kouga had gathered, it was an ogre that was behind the murder spree but Kouga refused to believe that the trail stopped there - there had to be more to it - another someone who was pulling the strings. Naraku. Kagome had done her best to assist the wounded wolf but he had perished regardless of her efforts. Kouga trailed the area, unable to find traces of the ogre. It had left him with one choice: talking to the elders. He had only mumbled a few words to the group prior to vanishing into the night, leaving Hakkaku and Ginta behind. Now, they were all et around a fire, waiting for his return. Despite Ginta and Hakkaku's reassuring words, Kagome remained concerned for his safety.

Inuyasha was a whole other story. He was sitting in front of the fire, his arms crossed as he angrily mumbled under his breath. "Waste of time."

"Inuyasha," she chastised. They were not going to abandon him. Especially not right now.

"What? It's that stupid wolf's own fault if he wants to die. I ain't gonna wait."

"Inuyasha," she warned a second time.

But he chose to ignore the warning. "I mean, we got better things to do. Ain't my fault if your boyfriend ran away."

And those were it; the words that made her self control snap. "Inuyasha, sit!"

As his face buried itself into the cold ground, she turned her head to look at the darkness of the forest, waiting for hm to emerge - but he did not and Kagome sighed loudly. Hopefully, he would not do anything to reckless.

-P-

Morning came, the run rose, but as Kagome sat up, her sleeping bag slipping from her upper body, she realized that Kouga had not returned. She could easily spot the boys as they sat far from camp, but close to her, watching the area where Kouga had disappeared earlier. That meant that they could not even sense his presence and that did nothing to lessen the feeling of dread growing inside of her. She slipped away from her sleeping bag, feeling the cold air roll off of her skin. Her steps were quiet as she walked in direction of Hakkaku and Ginta. She could easily feel their worry through their auras.

"Nothing yet?" she asked as she plopped down beside Ginta.

As an answer, he shook his head, his face void of his usual smile.

"I'm sure he's fine," she said, unsure if she was saying it for herself or for them.

"Yeah."

"He must be."

Suddenly, a rustle of the leaves echoed, and before Kagome could even try to get up, Ginta and Hakkaku had already jumped to an upwards position. Splatters of red stained the nearby grass as a tan hand emerged through the foliage. It was not too long before Kouga's face became recognizable despite the dark red blood that coated hi skin and his armor. From Kagome's point of view, it was impossible for her to tell if he was wearing someone else's blood of his own.

"It ain't his blood," Inuyasha said as he walked behind her.

Kouga did not comment on his appearance or what happened. Instead, he headed straight for the fire the group had created and popped down in front of it, his state of utter destruction finally hitting hi. It was over. It was finally done.

Everyone stayed back, but Kagome took a step forward. He did not appear to be injured but she wanted to confirm his safety for herself. Especially since he was being non-Kouga like. Once she reached him, she sat down by his side, her eyes scanning his body for any sign of injuries.

"Here," he said as he held out his hand. Once he opened it, he revealed the bloody pink shard that was nestled within his palm. "It was tin the orgre's forehead."

"The what?"

"Naraku. He sent a puppet ogre after the wolves pack."

"Did you see him?"

"I saw his fucking insects." He had not seen him but he had always known he as the one behind it.

Kagome reached into his palm and retrieved the shard. She felt like there was more to the story than he was sharing with her but he did not appear to be in the mood to share what had happened out there. All she knew was that it had been a heck of a fight.

"Are you okay?"

He flashed her a smirk. "Ain't gotta worry about me. I can handle myself unlike muttface. I can keep my woman safe."

And the old Kouga was back. Somehow that came as a relief.

Kouga's nose twitched as he smelled the air. "What smells so good?"

She arched an eyebrow, unable to recall any food that they had cooked recently. But as Kouga's skillful nose began to lead him in direction of her yellow bag pack, a light went on in her head; the cookies.  _Kouga's cookies_. She did her best to suppress a smile as she opened her bag and fished for the prize. Within seconds, she had the bag in her hand and was holding it up in front of his face.

"Want one?" she offered.

"What is it?"

"Cookies."

What in the world were cookies? Then again, it came from Kagome, did he really care what it was? He would take anything she allowed him to have. He reached out for the strange food and he popped it in his mouth. After chewing it for a moment, he felt like an explosion of taste and flavour in his mouth. "This is great. You made this?"

Well, that was a very long story that she could not share with him but it did not stop her from smiling, clearly amused by the current situation. "Sorta."

He nodded while he kept on chewing. Kagome would have to pass the comment along to  _someone_. Of all the things he could like, he wanted the cookies. Why was it that some part of her felt like he knew this already? She really needed to learn to extract a few details out of him. If she could have known about this, she would have been better prepared to deal with it and she probably could have helped him better. Then again, she might have done a few things that could have altered the future. Could she have done it? Could she have led them to a different path so that they would have never found out? No. Plus - time was fixed right. It was not like she could change anything. Things were going along as they were always supposed to do. But, something felt different from before, something felt out of place and she could not figure it out.

Things were never going to be the same again were they?

-P-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm kinda trying to follow the show and insert Kouga in it, so for those who didn't recognize it, that was what happens in Ep. 102. Hence why I didn't go into the whole battle and stuff. YOU CAN WATCH IT :D ahah.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I'm sorry guys, it has been a little crazy with work and school. I can't promise steady updates... but! I am gonna be on a month break in a couple of weeks, so! There's that.

Sweat dripped down his neck as he was awoken in the middle of the night, his mind filled with flashes of the past. Something had changed again. He did not know how many more nights of this he would be able to withstand. Five hundred years ago was a long time ago and it was bringing it all back as though it was as recent as yesterday. He would not be able to fonction through it. That was without considering his growing fear that something in the past would get altered. How was it that a simple meeting in the future was able to modify the past so much? If only he had known, he would have stayed away and he would not have said as much.

Of course, now it was impossible for him to stay away. He needed to keep an eye on the situation and intervene if need be. All he could hope for was that their little meeting had not screwed up everything for everyone and the final outcome.

-P-

The sun was still high in the sky as Kagome walked down the street, ready to pick up her little brother from his soccer practice. Her mother had to take her grandpa to his doctor appointment and they had not yet returned. Kagome had sneaked away from the feudal era while the wolf boys had been hunting for breakfast. She had found it easier than to have  _that_  conversation. They had been low on a few medical supplies and considering Kouga's recent battle, he had not wanted to take any chances in regards to safety. Once the school came into view, Kagome's steps hurried. She did not have time to linger too long and she would most likely have to return tonight without enjoying a nice night of rest in her comfortable modern era bed.

By the time she arrived at the gates she could see that they were done practicing since most of the boys were walking away with their bags hanging off their shoulders. She quickly spotted her own brother who was heading her direction.

"Hey Kagome."

"How was practice?" Sometimes, she did feel a twinge of pain at the fact that she was missing out.

"Good," he answered with a smile. "The new coach is great."

"Since when do you have a new coach?"

He shrugged. "Not long. He's great though - and he's super fast."

That sounded a lot like… but, Kagome did not get to finish her thought.

"Hey, Souta. Don't forget your -"

Kagome raised her head which silenced him mid sentence. Of course it was him. Who else would it be? Her life did not allow for random coincidences.

"Kagome?" she was the last person he expected to see. "W-what are you doing here?"

She smiled. "Picking up my little brother," she said as she pointed to Souta.

S-souta… Higurashi. He was her little brother.

Souta was a little quicker than him to react. "You know each other."

"He's a friend," Kagome began before hushing her voice. "From the other side of the well."

Immediately, Souta's eyes widened in admiration. "Like Inuyasha?"

Kouga required a moment to process the information: clearly her brother was up to date on the whole situation.

"Except I'm not a mutt," he was quick to reply.

Kagome had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at the comment: Gold old Kouga.

"Is that why you're so fast?"

"A little bit."

"Sis, can he come over?" It was the first time that Souta ever saw someone move like him - and now that he knew he was a youkai, that just made him a million times cooler.

"Souta, I'm sure Kouga has better things to do tonight." He had a life outside of hers.

"Sure." His reply came so quickly that even he was unable to stop himself. He was not sure if she had been trying to not invite him politely or if she had truly not wanted to impose on his life. It was Kagome, meaning both options were highly possible. Plus, he was not sure of how at ease he would be going with her to her house in regards to all of the recent new memories she had created. He knew they would need to have a conversation but he was not sure that having it during a family dinner was the best thing. It would have to wait until they were alone.

"Alright, then," she replied with her lips tightly stretched into a smile. How in the world could she prepare him for the million questions her brother would have, or her grandfather's spells and sutras? "Let's get going."

Maybe her visit would not be as brief as she had anticipated.

-P-

"Youkai! Be gone you evil monster!"

Kagome resisted the urge to face palm herself as she watched her grandfather throw sand at Kouga's face - as if her little brother's thousand questions had not been enough. No, apparently, his grandfather had to make the whole situation a lot worse. Meanwhile, Kouga was standing perfectly still, towering over her grandfather, his eyes closing each time sand was thrown at him. He clearly appeared less than pleased with the situation but he was holding it in a lot better than Inuyasha ever had.

"Grandpa…" she tried for the fifth time. Considering how many times Inuyasha had been over, she thought he would have been over it by now. On top of it, Kouga had a disguise on, which hid away all of his youkai features. How could her grandfather possible tell that he was a youkai?Perhaps he was not that senile after all… _That in itself was a scary thought_. "I'm so sorry," she apologized again. "Grandpa, Kouga is a friend."

"He's a youkai!" Why did his  _only_  granddaughter keep bringing youkais to their shrine? Why did he bother? He walked away from them, mumbling under his breath as he shook his head.

"So that was my grandpa," she said with her hands clasped behind her back. So much for introducing him to the family…

He arched an eyebrow before shaking the sand out of his hair. "Do I want to meet you mother?" Her brother had been overly excited, but there was nothing wrong with that. Her grandpa on the other hand was a complete nut job. He reminded him of the humans who used to chase youkais away with forks.

She laughed. "Yes, she's a - little different from grandpa." That was one way to put it.

"And is your dad gonna kick my ass?"

At the question, both her and Souta froze, but Kagome was the one to answer. If she could avoid answering, she would but - she had to… "He's - no longer with us."

And now he felt like a complete moron for even bringing it up.  _Fuck_. How did he always do this? "Kag…"

"It was a long time ago, don't worry." Her memories of him were faint at best; they were not enough of them for her to be sad about it. She had some regrets about never knowing him but, questions about him did not make her sad. "Let's go."

She turned around, not giving him a chance to argue with her and she walked into the house. After a beat, she could hear Kouga and her brother following her. "Mom," she called out.

Her mother appeared in the kitchen with a smile on her face.

"I brought a guest."

Suddenly, Kouga found himself very self conscious as he moved forward, putting his best smile on. He only had one chance at making a good impression and he was not going to ruin it. "It's nice to meet you ma'am."

For an instant, Kagome mother's blinked, her eyes searching Kouga's face. His first thought was that she recognized him as the coach and found it widely inappropriate that he was hanging out with her daughter. He swallowed hard, doing his best to keep his smile on.

"I know I know you," she said with a smile before walking towards him.

"He's my coach," Souta pitched in. "And he's a youkai from the well - like Inuyasha."

As Kagome noticed her mother's confusion, she knew she would have to provide a more in depth explanation than what her brother had just said. He's not really from the other side of the well. We met five hundred years ago but… he's from here." There was no easy way to explain it. "I've told you about him. Kouga…"

"The one who kidnapped you?" her mother asked as she tried to remember her daughter's many adventures.

Great now her mother knew him as the man who kidnapped her daughter. That officially ruined any chance he had at making a good impression. Even his trademark smirk was not about to fix this one for him. Although he almost preferred man who kidnapped her to man who shouted his love from the top of a mountain like a crazy person.

"Yes - it's complicated. But he's a good friend."

These were the only words her mother needed to hear before she wrapped her arms around Kouga, giving hm a welcoming hug. Kagome had a whole life on the other side of the well and she did not get to know a lot about it - except for Inuyasha's visits. "It's so nice to meet one of Kagome's friends! Please, sit. Would you like anything to eat?" she rapidly babbled as she pulled away from him.

Kouga had initially been a little stiff but Kagome's mother warm welcome helped him relax. Kagome, meanwhile, was finally able to breath a little better. This was not so bad.

Conversation flew and before they knew it,the food had been ready. Obviously, Kouga spent the entire meal being bombaded with questions and he answered them all between bites. Even her grandfather went as far as doing some small talk. Once supper was over, and he helped clean up, Kagome gave him a quick tour of the shrine. The last place left to visit was her bedroom. Luckily for her, her mother had cleaned up at bit, leaving it presentable. Once the visit was complete, she sat in her chair.

"So this was my family, and this is my home," she announced.

He nodded. "It's nice." It made him a little sad to think that she had this whole life and a family and yet she spent so much time away from them. It did not seem fair. "Thanks for having me over," he added as he awkwardly sat down on the edge of her bed.

"I couldn't let my little brother's coach go starving." Life was filled with strange coincidences.

He chuckled. "Yeah. I can't believe I didn't put two and two together." Then again, it was not like he had been stalking her. "You know the boys would be thrilled to see ya. Maybe I could return the favor." Although he was nowhere near as good a her mom when it came down to cooking.

"Ginta and Hakkaku?" She could not help but wonder what they looked like now.

"Yeah, they keep yapping about you." And that word was not strong enough to describe the amount of nagging he had been through lately. Although they were also very insistent about the fact that he should have  _the talk_  with her - but that would wait until later.

"It's just a little hard for me to plan when I'll be here." Unless there was an exam or a paper due, she would just kind of randomly go home. And it was not like she could guarantee that she could make it back on time for a precise date: what if they got attacked, spotted a shard or worse? She could not possibly abandon everyone just to come home for supper. She did not want to disappoint anyone by bailing on them.

He waved it off. "Just text me when you're around and we'll make it work around your schedule. We wouldn't wanna stand in the way of saving the world," he said with a wink.

Although, at this point, he no longer knew where they were heading. It would be a lot easier and a lot safer it they saw each other somewhere that was unknown to Inuyasha. Eve now, he could come bursting in her bedroom at any point and it would not be a fun conversation to have and explain. Actually, why had she not thought of that before bringing him into a room? She was leaving a trail.

"Ya alright." It was hard to miss the stiffness in her body. "Yeah…" she began, unsure how to explain this to Kouga without saying it.

Kouga forced a smile. "Inuyasha?" It was not hard to guess from the look on her face..

"He shows up unannounced… a lot."

"And it would be best if I were not there when he shows up," he finished for her.

She cringed: she really did not want it to sound like that.

"Don't worry _ I dont' think it would go well and I'd like to avoid that too."

She offered an apologetic smile. "And I was supposed to head back tonight. I sneaked away while you were gone…" She turned her head, avoiding his gazed.

He smiled. "Then we should get ya back before I do something stupid." He was a little too aware of how reckless he could be. Years of hiding had tamed that side of him but the Kouga she knew still had some growing up to do.

"I'm sorry…" She did not want him to think that she was kicking him out.

"Hey, I know what it's like back then. I know what you have to go through…"

The amount of people that knew about her double life was small and she had to admit, it was nice to add another person to it. He could understand what it was like to be back there and how hard it was to hide yourself in the modern era. Having someone like that was not something she was used to but she was glad that they were able to find each other.

"Need any help?" he offered as he eyed her backpack.

"Yes please." She was already going to have to lug it out of the well. "Any way you chan share with me if somebody is going to help me out of the well?"

He chuckled. "Now, what would be the fun in that?" he said with a wink as he picked up her bag.

She frowned as she followed behind him. "I doubt that's gonna wreck time and space."

"You never know," he said as he kept walking away, a smile dancing on his lips.

Eventually she would get him to talk a little.

-P-

Not this again - she could not physically and mentally take it. Inuyasha was marking circles around her, his nose twitching, while she was boiling hot water to make some ramen noodles. It was the same routine every time she saw the future version of Kouga. It was like he could smell something but could not at the same time. It was driving her absolutely insane. At tis point, she would rather smell like Kouga since she could easily explain that now that he was traveling with the group.

Luckily for Kagome, Kouga had not been around upon her return. Inuyasha complained that she took too long but she simply rolled her eyes at him. And now, well, he was annoying her. Also, she had been back for a while, but there was still no sign of Kouga, Ginta and Hakkaku. Where would they have possibly gone to for so long? She tried to watch through the thick trees of the forest but she was not able to see anything - and it was getting quite late  _and dark_.

"Waiting for your boyfriend?" Inuyasha did not know what it was but something was different about Kagome. Was it her? Was it her scent? He could not tell what had changed but he knew something was off. Plus what was up with suddenly inviting Kouga to be part of their little group? He never came with them before and she had never cared. What was so different this time? They were slower, they had seen Naraku less and so far their jewel shard count only had one new shiny piece - which they got after Kouga had mysteriously vanished by himself. How were they to know that Naraku was not involved considering the blood bath they had stumbled upon.

"Inuyasha…" She was not in the mood for it. "He's not my boyfriend."

"Coulda fooled me," he sneered as he backed away into a nearby tree, his arms crossed in front of his chest. It was not like he was jealous or nothing.

Before Kagome was able to retort anything, there was a ruffle of the leaves, attracting the whole group's attention. As expected, they watched as the trio emerged from the shadows. The guys' expressions immediately light up when they saw Kagome but Kouga's face remained stern.

The events that had transpired had been difficult for him and they had made him feel weak all over again. He did not have enough power, he was not strong enough. It was also clear that the asshole was targeting him and his kind. He now felt like more than ever his presence was putting her at risk. It had left him with one option and he had taken it. He glanced down at his right arm before closing his hand into a fist. He now had something that allowed him to help… just in case.

Inuyasha was the first to greet the wolf pack and he did so with a twitching nose. "Why do you smell different?" he asked in an accusing tone.

"None of ya business." Kouga replied as she headed in direction of his final destination; Kagome. She was the one inspiring him to be better and do better.

"Don't start you two," Kouga warned. She knew that look in Inuyasha's eyes. "Can't we just get along?" She knew how kind, protective and caring Inuyasha could be and the same could be said about Kouga. How was it that the two of them simply could not be in the same room as each other? They had a lot in common.

"I'll stop if mutt face stops." It was not his fault that Inutrasha was threatened by him.

"Keh! If I stop? Maybe if ya learned your place this wouldn't happen."

"You wanna know who needs to learn their place?"

"Anytime you want mangy wolf." As if he were scared of him. Inuyasha's hand hovered over his sword, ready to take it out at any moment.

"Inuyasha,  _sit_." At least there was one of them that she could calm down. She really needed a necklace like that for Kouga as well. "Kouga - his name is Inuyasha, you could learn to say it right."

"Hey - he calls me a mangy wolf!" What was he supposed to do? Let him win?

"That's why his face is in the ground," she pointed out. "Fighting amongst ourselves isn't going to help. Naraku is out there, killing and targeting us. If we want to defeat him, we'll have to do it together," she said, stressing the last word out.

"Kagome's right," Sango said as she joined into the conversation. "This is what he wants." He had turned Sango against the gang before she even knew them - he had turned her brother against her and their family. This was his ammo of choice. They could not give into the discord - no matter their differences.

"And everyone should stop smelling everyone," Kagome pointed out. Inuyasha had to stop smelling people - especially her. This was one secret that she could not spill to him.

"Maybe everyone should stop smellin' guilty," Inuyasha retorqued. Something was fishy.

Kagome's eyes narrowed. "And maybe you're the last one who should be puttnig your nose in other people's business." She almost winced but held it back. The more defensive she got, the guiltier she looked, but she could hardly hold it back. From the corner of her eye, she noticed a smirk on Kouga's face. "Not helping mister," she said in a firm tone before giving up. "I'm gonna get some water," she said as she walked past the wolf pack.

Kouga watched her walk away, an eyebrow raised as some clarification downed upon him. He had wondered what she had meant with her smelling comment… but now? When she had walked by hi, he had been hit by a wave of familiarity, There was something strange, and it was not the first time he had felt it. What was it?

-P-

"Inuyasha was right."

Kagome popped one eye open at the comment. She let her body sink further into the water of the small spring they had found. The water was warm, and Sango and her had decided to enjoy a nice bath away from prying eyes. That was until Inuyasha's name was brought up. "What do you mean?"

Sango offered a shrug of the shoulders. "There is something different about Kouga."

Should she be concerned? "Different good or different bad?"

"I don't think it's bad," she began as she leaned into a nearby rock for support. "His…aura. It feels different than before." She did not know why but it felt… stronger? Maybe.

"He hasn't said anything." Then again, she had not asked. It was rather strange for her to know two versions of the same person. At least future Kouga could understand any confusion she might have. Perhaps she should ask this Kouga? Future Kouga could not share much with her. "He's been a little weird since he saw the dead youkais and got the shard," she agreed. He had not told anyone what had happened that day.

"It's hard to see your owns slaughtered like that," Sango pointed out. "And it is the second time that happens to him." She had wanted to die and she could not imagine how it felt to go through it a second time. "Kagome, can I ask you something?" She had meant to ask her before, but - the timing had never felt right.

"Sure?" Why did it feel like it was going to be about Kouga? Anticipating, she looked away.

"Why did you ask Kouga to join us?" She did not have anything against him, it was simply that she had found the whole thing sudden and a bit out of the blue. "I know what you said, and I agree with you - but I feel like there is more." Kagome loved Inuyasha - everyone knew it. There was also no denying that Inuyasha had feelings for her and that he cared for her. But, there was always Kikyo's presence lurking between them, causing a stalemate. Kouga on the other hand was all about Kagome and his devotion for her.

Kagome pinched her lips, trying to think of something. She thought her speech had been logical enough, but apparently her skills as a liar were not on point, despite the fact that she spent half of her time hiding her second life. There only question left was, could she possibly share  _this_  with another person without turning it all into a bigger mess? Kagome raised her eyes, trying to take a quick look around before sighing.

"Promise me that you won't tell anyone - not Miroku, not Shippo -  _not Inuyasha_."

Sango had rarely seen Kagome this panicked in the past. All she could do was nod.

"I saw Kouga - in my time." There it was out in the open.

"Kouga can also go through the well?"

Kagome shook her head. "No, not this Kouga. Five hundred years from now Kouga."

Oh. "But I thought you said that youkais were gone from your time?"

"I thought they were but apparently I was very wrong." She sighed. What else did she not know? Meeting Kouga in her era opened up a lot of doors and created many questions.

"You saw Kouga… and now he is traveling with us?" Sango could still not see the connection between the two events.

""I-" How to explain it? "Talking to him - just helped me learn how much he lost, how deep his pain was and… well I just thought he deserved a chance to right some wrongs and take down the person who ruined his life." She saw a new side of him.

Sango could not disagree with that. "How have you managed to hide it from them all this time?"

"I'm not sure - from what Kouga  _\- other Kouga_ \- told me, whatever his hiding his youkai appearance in my time, it's also hiding his scent. Although, I still feel like they can tell." But that was probably her own paranoia kicking in and nothing else. At least she hoped…

"Inuyasha  _has_  been smelling you an awful lot lately…" She had not known what it was about but now that she had the full story, it did add up. "What are you going to do?"

"About what?"

"Can you keep this from them?" Kagome was not always the best liar.

She had already slipped up once or twice to past Kouga but the ultimate goal was to keep it to herself. "I don't think it would help anyone. Actually, it would make it all a lot worse than it already is." Kouga would not understand, and Inuyasha would freak.

"What is he like?" She knew Kouga with this reckless personality, but something told her he was not the same.

"Kouga?" Sango nodded. "A lot different. Older I guess. I mean, he's still Kouga - but he's  _different_. For starter, he doesn't call me his woman anymore." She shrugged. "I haven't seen him that much and he won't really talk about Naraku and what's going to happen with everything."

Sangos' eyes darkened as her face became more serious. "It's probably best that way - we wouldn't wanna change anything." She assumed that if Kouga was well, it could not have gone badly - meaning they would want to keep things that way and not alter the future… although. "Wait, you said you invited Kouga to travel with us because you met him in the future right?" Kagome nodded. "Is that how he remembers it going?"

Kagome furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"Well, what if he only joined us because you saw him? What if you already changed something?"

"I don't think so. I think time is pretty fixed. I mean, I'm here all the time and my era has never changed. If I could change things I'm sure I would have seen the consequences of it by now." It had been years and things remained unchanged.

"You're right but I don't think we should find out anything."

"I agree." Although she was dying to know a few things: did Sango get her brother back? Did they kill Naraky? Did the void in Miroku's hand disappear? And… Kikyo and Inuyasha… did they make it? What about Inuyasha and her? Heck, she did not know if she would either be stuck in the past or in the present. Sango was right; the least they knew, the better.

-P-

He stared at his open palm, a tingling traveling through it. Currently, it was invisible to the naked eye but he knew it was there. He could feel the power surging through him. Now he could help protect his own and he could ensure Kagome's safety. Over the years he had believed that Inuyasha could do it, but now that he had seen him recklessly abandon Kagome for another woman, he knew better. If he wanted his woman to be safe, he had to do it himself. He would make sure that bastard could not get to her - no matter the cost.

"Kouga?"

The sound of Kagome's soft voice pulled him from the seclusion of his own thoughts and he turned around to look at her. The brightness of the orange flames behind her were lighting up her figure like she was an angel. She was staring at him, her hands clasped behind her back. "We made some food if you're hungry. We even have some raw meat if you'd like." He had been a little secluded sine he returned and it felt unlike him.

He flashed her a grin; his woman was worried about him - and she was providing him with food. She was n angel. "I'd love to eat anything my woman has prepared for me." Without giving her the chance to have a proper reaction, he rose to his feet and hurried to hold her hands in his. "As long as it's' been made with your loving hands, i"d eat it - cooked or not."

Kouga had this time; anytime he looked her in the eyes, he looked at her like time had stopped. There was something quite unsettling about that type of gaze. It pierced her soul and it set him up for disappointment. She was running out of ways to politely get out of it, but she did not want to be rude to him. He had not done anything wrong and she valued him as a friend."I don't think you'll have to make that type of sacrifices. There is raw meat," she re-assured him. She slowly inched her hands out of his, and was abut to break free before she stopped herself as she felt a surge of power tingling through her skin. It was coming from Kouga's hand. She stared at it, almost hoping she would see something else than the tan flesh she was currently staring at.

"Kouga, something is wrong with your hand," she said no longer trying to pull her hands away.

Of course his Kagome would pick up on it right away. That was why he loved her. "I'm stronger," he settled on answering. "I proved myself and I was rewarded." He watched her as she searched his hand for an answer but she found none. "I cant protect you now. More than mutt face ever could." Or ever cared to clearly…

"Kouga," she warned. "His name is Inuyasha." She was tired of their bantering.

"Kagome, why do you protect mutt face?" He despised him for what he did to her.

"Kouga - it's complicated." It was not about him being the first person she met or them teaming up - or even her being Kikyo's reincarnation. She was her own person with her own feelings. She did not expect Kouga to understand but there were a lot of sides to Inuyasha that he had never seen. Inuyasha put his own life on the line multiple times to save her and he cared about her. He had gone through so much…all by himself. He was strong and he carried the world on his shoulders. She knew that he was not trying to hurt her every time he ran to Kikyo. He just loved her and he needed her. Of course, that did not mean that it did not hurt her, but deep down, she knew he did not mean to do it.

"I made him a promise." It was the simplest way she could explain it to him.

"Yeah well, I promised to make ya my woman." He could see the pain in her pretty blue eyes when she thought of INuyasha. He would never break her heart like that.

"Kouga…" They had that talk many times. "I'm not your woman."

"Not yet," he said with a smirk that reminded her of that day on the mountain when he proclaimed his love for her - for all to hear. "But one day, I'll show ya how much better you deserve. You're my woman Kagome and I love ya. I ain't about to let mutt face win. He doesn't deserve ya, ya deserve someone who loves  _you._ " He leaned forward and pressed his lips to their joint hands.

He did not know why she was hanging on to Inuyasha but he would take this opportunity to show her what he had to offer. She might seem against it, but she was dropping hints that she did care about him - and that was all he needed. A little bit of hope. He released her hands, his eyes never wavering from her face. She stood there, her luscious lips parted, her cheeks dusted red, and he smirked. He turned around, walking away from her, his hand tightly pressed into a fist.

Kagome swallowed hard, her heart hammering in her chest as she watched him walk away. She did not know the new Kouga that well yet, but she hoped one thing; that he had not lost his determination. Sometimes, it was a little too much, but she admired his convictions. No matter what, he did not stray from what he wanted and he focused all of his efforts to get it. There was something admirable about it.

If only someone else she knew could be this decided about his love life.

-P-


	7. Chapter 7

She might as well not have shown up.

Kagome was staring at her exam, listening to the clock ticking away. It did not matter how much she stared at the questions, she was completely and utterly unable to answer any of them. She hard tried to get her reading done but between keeping the peace between Kouga and Inuyasha and jewel shard hunting… She had been left short on time. And now she was paying the price for it. She had scribbled as best she could, but none of the answers made sense. She raised her head to stare at the clock, but she only found despair. Five more minutes to go before her nightmare was over. She scribbled as much as she could during the remaining time but her hopelessness stayed.

Once the buzzer went off, she found herself dropping her pen. She should have stayed in the feudal era. Inuyasha was going to throw a fit over it, and it had not been worth it. At all. She did the line to hand in her exam, defeat obvious in her face. At this point all she wanted to do was go home and hide in her bed. Unfortunately for her, before she could even make it past the doorway, her friends leaped at her and grabbed her by the shoulders. She was not about to go free; all she could do was put her best smile forward.

"That was brutal," Ayumi said before sighing. "It's like I knew nothing."

"I know what you mean," Kagome grumbled under the breath. It was a nigthmare.

"I saw we celebrate with some Wacdonalds." Yumi suggested as she walked ahead.

It was then that Kagome's glance landed on a familiar presence within the halls; Kouga. He was stopped in the middle of the hallway, talking to another teacher.

"Earth to Kagome," one of her friends said as she waved her hand in front of Kagome's face. "What is so distracting?" Yumi added as she turned around. At the realization, her friend could not help but laugh. "The new P.E teacher?"

Her tone was loud enough for Kouga's sensitive ears to hear and he immediately turned around. It took him no time to spot Kagome within the crowd and he grinned. She had slipped right by his radar and he had been none the wiser. He excused himself away from his colleague ad shifted his attention on her and her friends.

"Miss Higurashi," he said in his most professional voice. "Could you come to my office?"

Kagome did not need to look at her friends to know that they were all standing around with raised eyebrows. She was going to have to explain that one. "Yes." She swallowed hard before turning around to look at her friends. "Meet you there?"

Her friends smiled looking between her and Kouga. "Sure," Ayumi answered.

She was going to have many questions after this, she could already feel it. She kept her smile on and waited until they were far enough from her friends before speaking. "Really? You know they're going to ask me about this right? I think they think I have a crush on you," she admitted with a slight blush creeping upon her pale cheeks.

He could not help but smirk at the statement. "I see the roles have been reversed."

"Ha, ha…" she shook her head. ""I'm sure if I jump through that well things won't be."

"Ouch," he said, faking pain as he clutched at his chest. "Although you're not wrong." He palmed at his neck. "Sorry, didn't mean to make your friends curious. Hadn't seen ya in a bit. I just wanted to check up on ya." He did not really. He knew exactly what was up with her. After all, every time she went back, she created new memories that he had to relive through - it was hard to forget about it.

"We've been busy," she answered with a tilt of the head. "And you two are not getting along." Then again, she did not know what she expected exactly.

"Well, that's hardly my fault. I'm always on my best behaviour."

"I don't know how you just said that with a straight face," she said stifling a laughter.

"Because it's the truth," he replied with a smirk as they reached his office. "Do you have a minute or is your Wacdonald's date waiting for ya?" He knew it was hard for her to balance all aspects of her life and he did not want to impose on her.

She smiled. "I have a few minutes. Maybe you'll be able to help me figure out what the heck is up with you," she said as she opened the door.

He did not need to hear more to know what she was referring to: Girogashi. Although he had the answer she was looking for, he was not sure it was his place to tell her. If he knew himself well, and he did, he had some sort of gran reveal planned for her. "But then, I would be ruining the surprise," he replied as he followed her inside.

She arched an eyebrow. "The surprise?" She was not sure if that word choice made her worried or relieved. It was Kouga after all, meaning it could go either way.

He knew this trademark smirk at her. "I guess you'll have to wait and find out."

Kagome's eyes narrowed. "Or you could tell me!" It was strange to find herself on the other side. Usually, she was always the one with knowledge of the future, knowing where things were heading. This time, someone else had the upper hand.

"But then, I would I make you squirm?" For a brief second, his words took on another meaning, one he did not plan on, but he quickly dismissed it. He could blame that on recent flashbacks right? It was messing with his head.

She sat down on one of his chairs. "I think past you did that enough."

Again, hew knew it was not meant to sound that way but…. Well. "Fair enough." He shook his head. "But I'm still not telling you. How are you gonna explain your lack of surprise to past me when he does his big reveal?"

"I can fake that I'm surprised!" It was not like knowing was like seeing it.

He could not help but laugh out loud at the statement. "Kagome, you're not a very good liar." Although he chose to be slightly oblivious in the past, it did not change the fact that her face was always betraying her, despite how nice she was always trying to be.

She sighed, defeated. "Fine. But if you end up pulling some last minute heroic stunt, I'm going to be really mad at you for almost letting me die."

He bursted out laughing before being able to nod. "That's a deal."

-P-

As Kagome climbed out of the well, she found herself highly regretting the Wacdonald's she had prior to leaving the modern era. As if climbing out of the well was not hard enough already. Once she was finally able to grip the wooden edges, she tossed her yellow bag pack onto the ground with a grunt. She then proceeded to less than gracefully throwing herself unto stable grounds. At this point she was missing having someone helping her out of the well. She was dusting off the dust off of her green school skirt when the sound of footsteps startled her.

At first, her body froze and she was quick to turn around. She did not have her bow and arrow but that did not mean that she could not defend herself. Fortunately for Kagome, it was not an enemy she found standing behind her but a friend: Kouga. His blue eyes were less visible than usual since he was squinting, his brows furrowed. She held her breath, waiting for him to say something since Kouga was not known for being the silent type. And yet…

"Hey," she said after a moment, breaking the silence he refused to disturb.

It was the second time that he found her at the bottom of that well. The first time around, he had not pressed the issue. Mostly because had bene more preoccupied with her well being and the whole Inuyasha situation. He had even ignored the fact that no one had been able to give him a clear answer and disclose her location. This time however, he refused to let it remain a mystery. There had to be a reason why his woman kept coming up from the bottom of a weird well.

"Why are you always in the well?" he asked as he stepped forward.

This question. The question she had been expecting ever since they teamed up and jointed their groups together. She found it a lot simpler to not share her true origins and it was not like Kouga had ever picked up on her unusual traits before. Of course, she had not quite expected that he would watch her come out of the well two times in a row. It was a bit of a problem. It was also true that at some point she would have to start explaining her frequent disappearance. The truth was a good explanation but… there were not guarantees that he would even believe her. Then again, he felt strongly for her, that it might help him believe in time traveling. He had to have at least notice that there was something slightly different about her.

"It's a long story," she finally said before letting out a long sigh.

He walked even closer to her, his curiosity triggered. He wanted to leap at her but he feared that it might make her change her mind so he opted for distance. "I got all the time in the world for my woman."

-P-

It lasted much longer than she anticipated.

Yet, it was not because of him. He sat there, quietly listening, while she babbled on and on. She meant to stop at some point but when the usually out spoken Kouga kept quiet, it made her nervous and she kept on talking. It was as though the more details she added, the less crazy and more believable her story would be - but it did not work like that. After a while, the brightness o the sky had faded and they were sitting on the wooden edge of the well. She exhaled one last time, nervousness escaping her body. Her darting eyes met his and she searched his face while she desperately waited for him to finally break his agonizing silence and react to her story.

But he did not. Instead, he blinked longingly. The future. Now that she pointed it out, a few things about her were indeed perhaps a little too strange for her to belong here. But the future? It did explain what she had been doing at the bottom of the well.. And why he always seemed to lose track of her scent. Plus, Kagome was his woman. If she told him that was the truth then he believed her - no questions asked. However, it did pose a problem. From what he had gathered, it was not open to everyone to travel through time. How was he supposed to protect her if he could not follow her?

"You're the only one who can travel?"

Of all the possible things he could have said or asked, she did not expect him to go with that… and now she could either lie after being honest with him or she could tell the truth. The problem was that if she lied to him… he would technically know about it - or at least one version of him would know. She had told future Kouga the full truth. If she lied to this Kouga… wait no. This had already happened for him. The odds that he would… Wait. She… if she had… when she saw future Kouga… he did not know…. He did not know about her time traveling ways. But… if she had just told him… he should have known.

This was making her head spin. He could have faked not knowing - for the sake of preserving the past intact but - no his reaction… he could not have faked that. But then, if she had never told him… wouldn't that mean that they never even traveled together? Could it be that none of this had happened? No that was impossible. Kouga would have told her about it if something was wrong… unless he did not know. No, he had to know about this. It would explain… how he showed up that night, when she came home upset because of Inuyasha. How could he have been so well timed when it had happened five hundred years ago for him? It was because it had not happened until very recently.

"Kagome?" Kouga finally said, worried that she remained silent despite his question.

He had lied to her! Was she changing everything? Oh god. She could not continue messing everything up like this… she had to confirm this truth. Finally she snapped back to reality. "Kouga I'm so sorry - I have to go back."

He arched an eyebrow. "In the well?" He had missed something.

She kicked her big yellow bag away, not needing it. "I'm sorry, I'll be right back." Those were her last words before she turned around and jumped into the well, a bright pink light engulfing her as Kouga could only watch it happen.

Once the light vanished from sight, he found himself staring at an empty well. He did not even hesitate before jumping himself, hoping to follow her. But he quickly found an answer to his previous question; he could not go through the well. He stood at the bottom of the well, his feet in the mud.

-P-

_What's you address?_

That was the text he got from her. He assumed it had something to do with her telling past him truth, but he could not figure out what had her in such a panic. He had offered to pick her up but she had turned down his offer. So now, he was left waiting for her to show up. He had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that he simply could not explain. After what felt like an eternity, he heard footsteps followed by a knock on the door. He immediately jumped to his feet and dashed to the door. Once he opened it, Kagome's expression almost told him everything he needed to know. She was pissed.

"You," she said as she pointed a judging finger at him, her hair tousled. "You lied to me," she finally accused as her eyes narrowed.

"Hello to you too," he replied with a smirk before moving out of her way.

"Don't hello me," she snapped back before walking in his apartment. "You lied to me," she repeated. "You didn't tell me."

The gut wrenching feeling he had since she texted him intensified. "Didn't tell you what?"

"Why didn't you tell me that I was changing everything?" she shouted.

Ah fuck. Wait. How had she gotten to that conclusion? He had been careful and he had not dropped any clues! "What do you mean?"

She had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. "I just, well, I told five hundred years ago you about the time travels. But when I saw you here, you didn't know about it."

"Maybe - I pretended," he volunteered in a tone even he did not believe. How was he supposed to get out of that one?

"Kouga," she chastised. "I saw your face. You didn't know."

He let a long sigh drag out from his lungs before tilting his head forward in defeat. "I didn't know at first." This was not a conversation he wanted to have half way into the hallway with the front door opened. "Do you wanna talk about it inside?" he offered, waiting to close the door.

She walked in completely, knowing this would be a long conversation. "When did you know?"

"A few days after I guess?" He sighed. "It's not that clear. Usually you change something and then I get hit with these new memories - kinda feels like having a dream."

"Did I change a lot?" she inquired even though she was scared of the answer.

He was already found out. At this point - all he could do was tell her the truth. "We never traveled with your group… so everything that's going on right now…"

"Is new…" she finished for him. Oh god. She had changed everything. It was impossible for him to know anything. "Is- is that why you couldn't share anything with me?" How could he even tell her inoffensive things… If he knew nothing at all.

"Well…" he palmed at his neck. "Some things are still happening, they're just happening differently than before." He sighed. "Look, do you wanna sit or do you wanna eat or drink something?" Why did he not tell her himself? Why did he wait for her to find out on her own?

She shook her head. She wanted to fix this horrible situation. She wanted things to be as they were - as they were supposed to be. How did this even work? How come her going back in the first place did not do anything but knowing this, him, changed everything? It made no sense. "I think I need to sit." It was all she managed to say prior to dropping down on the nearby blue couch. She was screwing up everything. What if the ending Kouga knew no longer existed because of her? What if she had changed the outcome of the final battle with Naraku? She would never forgive herself for this. Already, panic seeped through her veins while her breathing rate accelerated. They were doomed.

"We're all going to die and it's all my fault," she said as she buried her face in her hands.

Her statement forced him to sit down beside her. "Kagome, everything is fin."

"Fine?" she repeated. "How can everything be fine?" she asked as she threw her hands up in the air. "And you didn't tell me," she said again before lifting a hand so that she could smack him on the shoulder, exasperated.

He almost flinched at the slap. "You know, you used to slap much harder." But that barely got him a smile. "Look, I didn't tell ya because I didn't know yet if it was a big deal. Ad I know ya. You take up everyone's problems and you assume all the blame. It's not like you could have known." He should have known thought.

"But none of this changes the fact that I've changed things." It was too late now.

"Maybe you've changed them for the best," he said, tilting his head to try and look at her face. "We're stronger now. How could that fuck up anything?" He did not want her to beat herself up over something she could not control.

Maybe he was right or maybe being a bigger group would be a downfall. "I just don't wanna make things worse. Do you remember how things should be?" He nodded. "Good. So maybe, I'll just - we'll talk. I'll try to come back as often as possible and you can tell me how badly I messed everything up." It was the only way she could come up with that could sort of limit the damages done to the timeline.

"Kagome…" He was not quite sure it was that simple to rectify the situation. "I don't got all the answers and I'm not sure actually getting involved in all this time mombo-jombo is gonna make anything better. If anything, it'll make it worse."

She sighed before letting herself fall backwards on the couch. What was she going to do? How was she even going to fix this? She had been doing this for a long time. She never thought that something like this could even happen.

"Let's try it," he finally said. He had never been given the opportunity to see this side of her in the past. Kagome had always been confident and fearless. At least, that was how he remembered her. Then again, until she changed things, their interactions with each other had been quite limited. They had been sort of friends. "You're Kagome. I had kidnapped you and you had no chance of getting away and you still stood up to me," he said with a chuckle. "Something this small shouldn't stop a girl who is fearless enough to slap a very powerful youkai."

This time, a smile broke on her face. "Well, I did walk away unharmed…"

"Are you saying I'm not a powerful youkai?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow.

At that point, he had not given her any reason to think that he was not dangerous and yet she had stood her ground. I just had a feeling that you weren't as much of a big bad wolf as you let on." And she had been right.

It was not like he could say she was wrong. Well - he could be sort of an asshole but not to her - never to her. He might have pushed past her personal boundaries, but he would have died for her. He would have done anything for her. Five hundred years ago, he would have been ecstatic for this. Kagome at his place, sitting on his couch, completely comfortable in his presence. "I guess I'm a big softie."

"It's the old age." Her chest rumbled from the laughter erupting from her.

"Now, I don't think that's any way to talk to your teacher," he chastised.

"I think that just made you sound even older," she counter replied.

"Not all of us can magically travel through time without aging." He snorted.

"I can't believe you actually told him. I didn't think you would."

"You kinda caught me redhanded. There are not many ways to explain why you keep finding me at the bottom of the well. But I thin I'm going to hold off on telling you that Inuyasha can go through the well. You two bicker enough as it is already." She did not need Kouga to try something stupid or dangerous.

He sighed. "Yeah, I don't think I would take it too well."

"You're probably standing by the well very confused right now," she added. She had kind of left in a panic without as much as an explanation.

"I can't tell you what'll happen when you get back since it hasn't happened yet, but I can tell you that I jumped in after you." No surprise there really.

"Well, since there hasn't been a city wide panic yet, I"m going to assume that it didn't work." If a loose youkai was by himself in modern time, she would know.

"Don't worry, I got stuck at the bottom. One of me here is enough."

"I should head back before Inuyasha comes looking for me." She did not need the other Kouga to see Inuyasha jumping through the well. One event per day was plenty for her.

"Let me know when you're back. I'll tell you if everything is on track." He would not give her detailed accounts of the events but he would try to ease her concerns.

"Thanks," she said as she slammed her hands down on her thighs.

Now she had to go back and face the music. Hopefully the final outcome would remain the same.

-P-

Not to Kagome's surprise, once the light faded, she felt an arm wrap itself around her waist. She did not need to see the face to know it was Kouga's. He leaped her out of the well and softly landed her on the ground. He let his arm linger on her for a beat before pulling away from her. He had been waiting for her this whole time. And she had yet to come up with a good excuse as to why she had almost ran away from him.

"Ya alright?" he had almost given up on waiting for her. However, she had such a terrified expression on her face when she left that he feared for her and her safety. He knew she mentioned the fact that she had yet to see youkais in her time, but it did not mean that humans should be blindly trusted. Kagome was different from most and she had a kind heart.

"Yea, I'm sorry." She felt like she had spent her day bouncing in between Kougas and it was making it difficult for her to create a distinction between them. "I had forgotten to do something." That sounded somewhat believable right?

"Is that why you have that smell?" he asked as his nose twitched. It was not the first time he smelled something without being able to recognize it.

"Hm maybe?" Nope, it was himself that he could smell all over her, but that tidbit of information she would keep to herself. "My nose isn't as sensitive as yours. I can't tell." Despite the fact that he had quite a bit of time to process all of this today, he would not sure he had observed it all yet. His Kagome was from the future. "Anyways, we should head back," she said, slightly uncomfortable from the silence.

It was strange to alternate between one Kouga with whom she could talk and one who felt a little bit like a stranger. She wondered if despite his crush on her, she would be able to talk to him like she did with his future self. After all, now he almost knew everything minus one or two secrets. She shook her head, chasing away the idea before bending down to retrieve her bag; it was silly. Before she could actually pick up her bag, Kouga swooped in and picked it up for her, throwing over his shoulder as though it did not weight anything. "I'm not gonna let ya carry this," he said as he led the way.

Usually he was the first to speak but he was currently lost in his own thoughts. Something was different with his woman but he could not figure out what it was. The way she acted with him and around him? The way she spoke to him? Maybe it was that weird scent free smell that seemed to coat her skin. He still could not put his finger on it and he knew it bothered Inuyasha as well. He had been sniffing around Kagome almost every day.

"Kouga?" It was strange for her to be the one to break the silence. "What I told you earlier… I- I need it to stay a secret." The extend of Naraku's reach was unknown if Kouga existed in the future… who else. Originally they defeated Naraku but what if that had changed? He might make it to her era and if he knew to look for her, that could have catastrophic consequences for everyone involved. Since the future was now uncertain, it was more important than ever now that her secret was kept… well a secret.

He stopped in his tracks, nearly causing her to collide with his back. He let her bag fall to the ground, creating a loud thud, before he turned around. "Kagome, you're my woman." It was not long before he wrapped his hands around hers, enveloping them with his natural warmth. "I'd never do anything to put you in danger. You can trust me." Using his hold on her, he brought her closer to his own body. "I'd never lie to you."

She cared for him, she really did, but it did not stretch past the concept of friendship. She felt as though she had shared that with him more than once, but the message was not getting across. It only seemed to make him more determined. It was the complete opposite of what she wanted. "Kouga…" she trailed. "I-I really value your friendship - but - I can't. I can't be what you want me to be."

"I know you love him." He had told her last time and he was telling her again. He did not care how long he had to wait or what he would have to do to prove himself. He would show her that he was the better man and the better choice for her. "I told you - I'll wait. Eventually you'll see." Inutrasha could not win forever. Eventually, the way he treated Kagome would catch up to him, and she would see the truth.

She tugged her hands away and to her surprise, he let her do it. It was clear that Kouga would eventually get over her. She needed to give him time but she would never lead him on. She could not do that to him. "Kouga. You don't know a lot about me. You know, where I'm from - people try being friends first and then they take it from there." It was not always true but he did not need to know that. This was enough to take a step in the right direction. Of course, she might hear a comment or two from the other Kouga but she would let future Kagome deal with that at the appropriate time.

"Friends?" He had not considered that the way of doing things had changed in the future. There were things he still needed to know about her. Things he wanted to know. "I wanna know more about the future."

She resisted the urge to cringe; she could not really overshare. But, maybe a few things - inoffensive things? "Well, talking is something friends do." She was perhaps putting a little too much emphasis on the word friend but…

"Friends." Obviously Kagome was more than a friend to him. She was a part of his pack and she was his woman. Friend did not highlight how much she meant to him. But his woman was not only a human but she was also from the future. Courting meant something different to her. Something he had never really realized. He could do it, he could adapt to doing things her way if it meant proving to her that he was the better choice for her. "Friends it is," he finally said. "Anything for you, Kagome." This was far from meaning that he was done with pursuing her. He was simply willing to listen and try it her way.

"Friends," she repeated, slightly relieved. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him. It was best if things were clear between them. She was not an idiot. She knew he would not simply switch off his feelings. But if they slowly worked towards building a friendship, she was certain that he would eventually see the truth and agree with her that them being friends was a better fit for them.

He offered her his signature smirk before he picked up her bag pack again. She was smiling and that was enough for him now. All he had to do was show her he could do this courtship of friendship. Not being forward, especially when he was right, was not exactly his cup of tea. But for Kagome, there was nothing he could not do. He was the better man, the better choice. He would give her everything she deserved, no matter what it would cost him. He could feel the tingle of power surging through the palm of his hand.

He was ready for this.

-P-


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Oh my god. I am still alive. Sorry guys, it's been crazy. For those who don't follow my tumblr, I am preggers. 5 months along. So, I've been busy! But hm, HI!

It had started small.

And it had grown.

At first, he had walked her back from the well -  _and she had not minded_. Then, she had let him sit next to her and talk to her as if it was nothing. She  _knew_  how he felt about her. How could she possibly let him do that and get away with it? It was because she did not mind. Oh, oh and if that was not enough, she had  _told_  him about the well, the future and everything in between. She invited him into the group, she shared her personal information with him - just what exactly was she trying to pull? And that idiot was eating it all up, running after her like a desperate fool.

Keh.

They were both morons.

He remained on his tree branch, his arms crossed in front of his chest as the powerful wind blew through the red sleeves of his fire rat robe.  _He did not care_. It was not like her promise was ringing through his ears. It was not like he felt betrayed or nothing. He was not interested. She was the idiotic one who was letting herself get fooled by an idiotic wolf. If she wanted to fall for his pathetic tricks and fall for him, that was her own business and he did not care about it. Not one bit.

Meanwhile back on the group, Kagome was on her knees, digging through her yellow bag, desperate to find that one last lollipop she had saved for Shippo. It was not in there.  _She had promised him a lollipop_. She had been such a scatteredhead lately that she had probably left it at home. They were a bigger traveling group now, and she had been trying to keep a high enough stock to provide for everyone in case of an emergency. That meant that she had been leaving out more  _optional_  things. Although, as far as Shippo was concerned, a lollipop was not optional. She sighed loudly, giving up, as she let the flap of her bag fall backwards.

Was she actually going to go back for a lollipop?

Despite their best efforts, they had yet to encounter a shard or even Naraku. It had been a dead zone. There were no leads, there were no attacks, nothing suspicious. That in itself was almost suspicious. But, they could do anything if they did not know where to look. She could tell that the boys were getting restless, especially Kouga and Inuyasha. The lack of fighting were making the tensions rise easier and Inuyasha was less than pleased that Kouga had been let into the little secret. But it was not his secret to share, so she had decided that he simply had to deal with it. She was not seeing someone being his back, she had just shared some information with a friend.

Friend.

So far, so good.

Obviously, Kouga still called her his woman, but the hand grabbing had toned down and - he was not as much in her face as before. That was a plus. It also helped ease the tensions between Kouga and Inuyasha. Although, it would seem that Inuyasha was not quite yet over his need to pout over everything. She knew that sometimes, it was best to let him process the information first. He always came around at some point, this would be no different. Eventually, once he was more logical and calmer, she would talk to him.

"Blood."

The word was said in unison by all the youkais present in the vicinity, the nose twitching and reacting to the cooper scent that suddenly filled the vicinity. Inuyasha had jumped down from his tree while Kouga, Ginta and Hakkaku ran to the edge of the road. It smelled like blood - a lot of it. Except unlike last time, this was not youkai blood, it was human blood. What in the world was that monster up to exactly?

Before Kagome, Shippo, Miroku and Sango could even be filled in on what was happening, the four boys dashed away. Kouga left all three in his trail of dust while the others were left watching. Kagome had jumped to her feet, her teeth sinking in her bottom lip as worry grew in her heart. Last time they had smelled blood, they had found a carnage behind. Would this time be any different? Why was Naraku leaving such a trail of bodies behind? Granted, he had killed numerous times, but this felt different somehow. Also, except for Kouga's sighting of his insects last time, they had not gotten a glimpse of him in a long time. Something was wrong.

It felt like a trap.

-P-

"Kouga."

But he did not listen.

" _Kouga!_  I'm fine."

He could hear the words that she was speaking, but he was choosing to ignore them. He had let his rage get the best out of him and that had allowed Kagome to be put in danger. He could not forgive himself for that. That  _thing,_  that  _Jakotsu_ , he was friends with the monster that killed all the wolves youkai. And apparently he was out to get Inuyasha and Kouga. That idiot fought like a coward. It might have been better if Inuyasha had not been in his way all the time. It had stopped Kouga from using his special weapon. He could not hurt the mutt in front of Kagome, or she would not forgive him. That had allowed Jakotsu and one of his minions to pull a dirty trick; poison gas. Unfortunately by then, his Kagome had caught up with them and she got caught into the poisonous cloud.

It was his fault. He should have made sure that she was well protected before diving into a battle. He was reckless and he had let his rage win him over.

"I even stopped coughing," Kagome pointed out when he remained silent.

She was alive, and it was more than could be said about most people. The entire village had been slaughtered by Jakotsu. Dead bodies covered the ground, their blood turning the golden sand a dark orange tone. More deaths. Somehow, even though there was no sign of it, she knew this had something to do with Naraku. Especially since Jakotsu seemed to already be aware of Inuyasha's existence. Who else would have given up that kind of information but Naraku? Although, that brought forth a bigger question; who were this monsters he was unleashing upon the world?

"Ya heard her mangy wolf. She said back off."

Inuyasha had been standing near them, his back facing the pair while his arms were crossed in front of his chest. Instead of chasing the monster, Kouga immediately went in for Kagome. The poison was bad, but it was not deadly. Kouga's crappy nose should have been able to tell him that much and yet he ignored it. Keh. He was just using that as a pathetic excuse to get close to Kagome and she was letting it happen.  _Again_. It was impossible that she could not see right through him. Could she not see that Kouga was just dead weight? He had gotten in his way while he had tried to take down Jakotsu. If it had not been for Kouga, he would have succeeded.

"If Kagome wants me to get away from her, she'll tell me  _mutt_ face."

"She did tell ya," Inuyasha said as he turned around to face him. "Ya just ain't listening."

" _Yeah?_  Come say that to my face."

Kagome resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she jumped to her feet. "Enough you two. Now is not the time to be fighting. We're on the same side, and we have bigger things going on."

"Lady Kagome is right," Miroku pitched in. "We have to find out about these creatures that keep appearing and murdering the masses."

"And we have to bury the dead," Sango added as her eyes scanned over the massacre that had taken place in the small village. Naraku left nothing but death and destruction everywhere he went. She could feel her fingers clenching into a fist at her side, memories of her own village filling her mind. He had to be stopped.

"It's Naraku's doing, I'm sure of it," Inuyasha said, tilting his head to the side as to not make eye contact with Kouga. "That bastard is behind everything."

"So how do we stop it?" Jakotsu was out there and Kagome was willing to bet that this would not be the last village to cross his path. They could not let him go free, rampaging through every village he came across… it would be a blood bath.

"Unfortunately, I do not believe he will be difficult to track down," Miroku answered as he referred to the bloodshed that surrounded them. The youkais of the group would have no difficulty tracking him down. "I believe we should bury the dead as Sango suggested, and then, follow the blood trail."

Kagome could not help the sigh that was dragged out of her lips as she stared at the bodies. There was a slight ping of pain in her heart as she thought about everyone who suffered because of the jewel quest. A jewel  _she_  had brought back to this era. She swallowed hard, tearing her eyes away from the massacre. "Miroku's right."

It was not hard to feel the pain resonating through Kagome's aura but what Kouga could not figure out was why she felt guilty. There was no way she could have prevented this, no way she could have saved all these people. Why did she feel guilty about their deaths? She was trying to avenge everyone, risking her life like she had done today, and that was more than most of the humans would have ever done for her. She had a kindness about her that spread to everything she touched. She did not deserve to feel like this.

Kouga took a step forward and put his hand on her shoulder. The gesture slightly made her jump in surprise, but she quickly realized it was him. She tilted her head backwards, their eyes meeting. "Sit, Kagome. We got this."

She frowned. "I wanna help!" She was not about to watch as everyone pitched in and helped give these poor people the funerals they deserved.

"Ya need to sit."

"Hey wolf boy, she told ya she's fine." Kouga was really starting to get on his nerves. He should also be getting on Kagome's nerves. She always yapped on and on about how she could take care of herself. How was she not getting mad at the wolf? She always got mad at him!

"You're an idiot," Kouga said as he set his gaze on Inuyasha. "Can't you see she's not fine. Her cheeks are pale, her legs are shaking and she can't breathe properly. Kagome's breathing is always steady, and right now it ain't." He scoffed. "Maybe ya don't care what happens to her, but I do."

"Keh. She'll be fine."  _So_  he had not noticed. Things like this happened all the time and Kagome was fine. She was going to be fine. She did not need a baby sitter and she did not need this idiot watching over her.

Kagome could not help but stare at Kouga while he locked eyes with Inuyasha. The things he noticed. It was hard to not recall other Kouga's words.  _He loved her_. It was hard to be mad about him trying to keep her held back when he was doing it out of a genuine concern. She had even laid down the friend talk, but he cared. "Kouga, I'm just sad. But I'll be fine. I wanna help."

The softness of her voice caused Inuyasha's ears to twitch. If he had told her to sit down and rest, she would have sat him through the center of the earth. But wolf boy? He got nice Kagome. How was that fair? How could she be so blind? "Keh, apparently some people get to do what they want."

"Inuyasha…"

"I don't see why you love the idiot."

And that was the one step over the line. Her eyes narrowed as she uttered that one faithful word. " _Sit._ "

And that boom echoed through the emptiness of the village.

Idiot.

-P-

"Sis?"

Ginta's expression of pure surprise could not be faked or replicated. His eyes lite up, his mouth hung slack while his brown orbs scanned every inch of her as to confirm that he was not dreaming. But he was not. It was her: Kagome, looking exactly as she had five hundred years ago. It was no wonder that Kouga nearly had a heart attack upon seeing her. "It's you," he said as his shock finally wore off. Without thinking twice about it, he launched himself at her, rapidly throwing his arms around her small frame. "Kouga didn't tell us that you were coming." He would have cleaned up the place if he had known about her visit.

"He didn't know," she managed to get out in one breath as he squeezed the air out of her lungs. She probably should have given a heads up before just showing up like tis. The thought that the boys would be home did not even cross her mind. "Sorry…"

Her words made Ginta immediately pull away from her, as though her words had completely outraged him. "You're always welcomed here. You're pack." Time was a hardly a thing when you lived for centuries over centuries. Five hundred years was like nothing.

As always, those words had a way of making her blush. "I- I just wanted to see Kouga and hm…" For a second she paused, wondering if she should go any further. Then again, they had to know. If Kouga had been getting  _new_  memories, the same thing had to be happening to the boys. All she could do was own up to the mess she was slowly creating. "I wanted to make sure I haven't screwed up anything," she finally settled on saying.

"Ah. The whole screwy future thing." Kouga had told them about their little conversation. To be honest, they were just relieved that he had finally told her. They knew that Kagome would never do anything to jeopardize anyone. Actually, what they had mostly been worried about was how mad she might be if she found out Kouga kept it from her for a longtime. That was the part that they were trying to avoid. "On my side, seems good. But Kouga would know better." After all, the two of them were spending more time together. They were  _friends_  that part made Hakkaku and Ginta laughed quite a bit. Reckless, cocky Kouga being  _friends_  with Kagome. Back then, he was like a desperate little puppy ignoring all the signs. Then again, they had not helped.

"Who's that?"

It was not the voice she had been expecting. Instead, she saw Hakkaku poke his head through the doorway. "SIS! I knew it was you!" His actions replicated Ginta's as he threw his arms around her to bring her into a tight embrace. "It's really you."

"It's really me," she said with a small smile.

"Hey boss, Kagome is here," Ginta screamed as he watched the scene in front of him. Somehow, this felt right. In this era, Kagome seemed different and Kouga was definitively different after going through a few centuries of growing up. This seemed better, more right. He was not sure that past Kouga could have successfully wooed Kagome. Not after getting all this new information. Back then it felt right but now he could see how wrong it had been. Especially considering the fact that Kagome was a modern woman. No wonder she had slapped the crap out of him when he had tried to man handle her.

As Hakkaku finally released Kagome from his grip, allowing her to see that Kouga had joined them, an awkward grimace on his face. "I guess it's too late to warn ya that the boys are here."

She smiled. "My fault for not calling."

"We're about to eat. Ya hungry?"

"Starving." She had been digging all day and she had not taken a moment to eat before she jumped through the well. Everyone was taking a beat, letting the disastrous events sink in before they followed the trail of blood. She had figured that it was a good time to jump through the well and make sure that their little encounter with Jakotsu had not thrown everything off balance. Anytime something bad happened, she felt scared, she felt her guts twisted. One mistake, one bad change and the entire future could be alternated. If she already felt guilty about breaking the jewel, how was she even going to deal with this? No, she needed to know.

"Come on in," he said as all of them moved out of the way.

He knew why she was here. He could not tell her as much as she wanted to know but how could he possibly turn her around? He knew what she went through today. He also knew he might have acted like a pain in her ass. The least he could do was offer her some sort of comfort to help her through this difficult time.

Hopefully it would be enough.

-P-

"Are you sure?"

"I'm here aren't it?"

"Well, that doesn't mean it went well."

"Kagome, trust me. I travel with ya. If that battle didn't go right, I wouldn't be here. I would fight that bastard until I die. I wouldn't let him get away."

His words send a shiver traveling through her body. She knew how much pain he had been in after losing his pack; he had been ready to slaughter Inuyasha. She had no doubt that if the occasion appeared, he would gladly give up his life if it meant the end of Naraku. However, that did not mean she liked thinking about it. "Kouga, nobody has to die." She shook her head. "And what I mean by that is, nobody better die."

"Kagome, it's Naraku. We have to expect anything." Nobody had died, at least not that he knew of, but he wanted her to be prepared for anything, especially since things could be slightly different now. What if their presence distracted someone or affected something? So far, everything was the same but…

"Is this your way of telling me someone dies?" she asked with an arched eyebrow.

"What- no!" Crap. This was not how he wanted this to go. "I ain't saying someone dies or doesn't die. I'm just saying, it's a battle to the death.  _Someone_  has to die."

"Yes, Naraku." There was no other way to deal with him. If he lived, he would come back. She did not often rule in favor of death, but if someone deserved such a punishment, it was him.

"I'm just saying. For now, it seems fine."

She sighed heavily, slumping forward. "I wish you could text me in the feudal era."

He chuckled. "If there was a provider that good out there, I'd switch."

"I don't want to mess things up even more."

"You didn't do anything."

"I got you involved."

"I got me involved. I shoulda been more careful." He should not have told her his sappy story about missing out on the battle and wishing he could do more. That was the kind of shit he should have kept to himself. He kind of led her on this path and he was going to own up to it.

"You didn't go to the past and invite yourself in."

"Nah, but I made ya do it."

"You didn't tell me to do it."

"I brought it up."

" _Kouga_ , I'm a big girl. I made my own decision. Clearly if I was willing to piss off Inuyasha, I was pretty determined to do it."

He laughed. "Yeah, muttface is  _not_  happy."

"Inuyasha," she corrected under the breath.

Some things never changed he mused with a smile. Although he now had the maturity to admit that he ignored most of the signs that Kagome threw his way, he had to admit that Kagome was doing the same. Inuyasha was  _in_ , but he was not in. He was keeping her around but despite his best intentions, he was stringing her along. He remembered seeing him with that other woman and even if he often fondly looked at Kagome, he had never looked at her like he looked at that woman. As long as she was around, he would never be Kagome's. It seemed that she had gotten quite talented at ignoring that little fact. She was  _young_.

"Old habits die hard," he said with a smirk.

She offered him a shake of the head as she looked away from him. "I'm scared of these new guys."

"I know." He wished he could tell her it would be better, but it would not. He wished he could tell her that they would not hurt anyone else, but they would. Actually, he wished he could tell her how many enemies they were battling, but it was something else he had to keep to himself.

"Any tips?"

"Yeah, let me take care of ya a little."

"I wasn't going to let you guys dig by yourself!" she defended.

"I know, but during battles… I have good instincts. Trust me." Inuyasha was after Naraku because he took away his life. Kouga was after Naraku  _and_  the monsters because they both slaughtered his people. He had more to gain from catching them.

She popped her lips. She knew this Kouga was not head over heels in love with her. That meant that if he said that, he meant it. "Let you take care of me during battles?"

"Yeah. I have a little trick up my sleeve."

"The famous secrets you won't share with me?"

"That one," he said with a smirk.

"What if I gave you a bag of chips? It seemed to completely marvel you last time."

"It ain't such a novelty anymore," he replied back remembering the little over the top moment they shared together over the bag of chips. "You're gonna need to do a lot better than that to sway me into revealing the future."

She frowned before pouting. "It's much easier to tell with past you."

"Are you sure? The  _hand grabbing_ , the wooing…"

"I don't remember wooing. As a matter of fact, you were quite understanding of our newfound friendship." Granted, she had not expected all of his feelings to have shift already but, she knew that he was trying and it meant a lot. She knew it was not easy for him and she had thrown a lot of information his way.

"Yes, friends," Ginta said under his breath. Honestly, he did not know how well that was going to work out. The Kouga they knew would not be able to be friends with Kagome. He was too in love with her to ever be able to let go of her. But, he was not about to burst anyone's bubble. Kagome seemed happy, and - maybe old Kouga had a shoot. Although in his opinion,  _this_  Kouga had a better shot. She was coming to him - constantly. Oh and to top it all off? She was at ease with him, acting like old friends.

Who knew?

"All of you are too hard on -  _other_  Kouga." She turned to Kouga. "Didn't you tell me to trust you?"

"I did," he hurried to reply. He would need to talk to the boys about getting  _involved_. "Don't worry. I shouldn't try to steal you away anytime soon."

"Good. I like things peaceful." Although with Inuyasha and Kouga sharing one space, it would never be peaceful. "Fine, I'll let you  _protect_ me." She did not like saying that. She was a grown woman who could handle herself. But, Kouga was limited in what he could tell her. If he said she needed to trust him, she would. "I won't like it though. Inuyasha's not going to like it."

She wished it was easier to talk to Inuyasha. She could then explain to him the full picture and perhaps he would understand why she was doing certain things. However, she knew that the moment he would find out about Kouga being in the modern era, he would chase him down and it would become a giant mess. She could not afford to have two youkais fight each other in the middle of Tokyo. It was best if he was left in the dark. Hopefully, his temper would calm down at some point, much like Kouga's had.

"He doesn't like much of what I do."

" _I think you do it on purpose_ ," she slyly replied.

"Me? I am a perfect gentleman at all time."

"Sure."

It was strange, it was difficult. He never had this many memories with her and they were coming from both the present and the past. The timelines were starting to merge for him since all the memories were new, and it was becoming difficult to tell what was what. She did trust him though, and he was grateful for that.

He would have to watch the boys though. He was going to wipe those smirks off their faces.

-P-

_Hair?_

Kagome frowned as she wrapped her fingers more carefully around the wooden edge of the well.  _Nope_ , not wood. It was really hair. She dared to continue pulling herself out of it. Once she threw her legs on the other side, she realized that the hair was jet black and long; it was all she needed to know to figure out who was there. Kouga. The only strange element was that he was not reacting to her presence. She quietly landed on the ground, her yellow bag still around her shoulder. He was  _sleeping_. His arms were crossed in front of his chest, his blue orbs were hidden behind eyelids, and his head was resting against the wet wood of the rim. He had been waiting for her.

She could leave him to sleep. After all, she did not know if he had gotten much rest since all of the deaths. She knew Kouga was good at playing tough but - she knew it affected him. She could see it. But, she also did not want to leave him here, asleep, by himself. Kagome let her bag hit the ground before she leaned forward and bent down so that she could grab his shoulder. She gently shook it, waiting for him to wake up. Hopefully, her presence would not startle him. She was not in the mood to be launched backwards.

It was a slow awakening. His eyelids fluttered a few times before she could see his eyes and his mouth twisted as he took in his surroundings.

"Kagome?"

When had she gotten in? He had been waiting here, ready to pull her out of the well. She had not looked like her usual self when she had left and he feared she remained a little weak. He did not want her to waste energy pulling herself out when he could help her do it. Of course, the mutt had fought him about it, but had suddenly stop when he had noticed strange white serpent things flying into the sky. He had not seen him since - which was a good thing. It had allowed him to peacefully wait for his woman. A little too peacefully apparently.

"Sorry, didn't want to leave you here," she said as she pulled away.

He quickly rubbed his eyes awake before jumping to his feet. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

Without asking, he reached out for her bag and retrieved it from her, swinging it around his own shoulder. He did not need his woman to carry her heavy bag like that.

She quirked an eyebrow. "Kouga, I can carry  _a bag_ ," she pointed out with her hands on her hips. She knew that he told her to trust him and let him protect her but that did not meet she was about to let him do every single little thing for her. She could handle her own bagpack; she had been doing it for a long time. Heck, she even biked with it on her back. She could do this.

"I'm helping as a…" he paused. "A friend," he added before smiling at her.

Using her own words against her; clever. "Even as a friend, you can let me carry my bag."

"Are you okay?" he asked, completely dismissing the point she was making. He knew she said she was fine, but he did not really believe it. There was something shining in her eyes and he could not quite figure out what it was.

She had learned today that Kouga could be quite perceptive when it came to her body language. She would have to be careful about that in the future or her own body might betray her. It was already hard enough to keep from him that there were… well two of him, she did not need a bigger mess to deal with. "Kouga, I'm human. But I'll be fine."

Sleep sounded amazing right about now though. After all the digging, the rushing through the other side of the well and then coming back… she was mentally and physically exhausted. "Are  _you_  okay?" she returned the question. After all, they had faced a man who was sort of responsible for a lot of his losses. It would be normal for him to not be okay. Last time, when he lost his pack, he had been a mess. She could not imagine what it was like to go through that pain over and over again.

"I'm fine," he echoed her own words back to her.

She let a smile tug at her lips. "Then we're both fine." She turned her head, spotting the few lights that remained lite up in the small village. They were scarce, indicating that most of the habitants had gone to bed by now. "We should head back."

He liked it here, he liked when it was just the two of them. Also, he could not put his finger on it, but each time she came back, she acted a little differently with him. No, she had not yet returned his claims of love but - but there was something different. She looked at him differently than before and she trusted him more. He used to find her quite stiff in his presence. He had always assume it was because of how their first meeting had gone down and the whole kidnapping. However, it had never gone away until now. She was comfortable in his presence; it was shift in her body language, in her scent and in her aura.

What had happened?

All he could do to answer her was nod. "I'm still keeping your bag. Ain't no way my woman's carry this heavy thing," he said with a smirk before walking slightly ahead as to let her know that this was not up to discussion.

Kagome sighed but silently agreed to let go of the whole bag issue. She had to learn to pick her battle. Plus, she would be laying if she said that it was not nice to have her own pick up crew each time she came back. Although, Inuyasha had done it very often. Most of the time, he did get her out of the bottom of the well. She was not putting him down. He simply had a lot more to worry about - more people. On top of it, he knew the villagers. Even though he would never admit it out loud, whenever they were around he did try to help. He had other things to do than wait around for her, not knowing when she would come back.

And that was fine.

Plus how many times did he actually go through the well to drag her back? Many times.

Kouga was more  _passionate_  and focused. It was different. Plus the village was not his pack and so, he could afford to wait around. And he did not have anyone else to run off to…  _No_. That was unfair of her. Inuyasha and Kikyo - that was clear from the beginning. Staying by Inuyasha's side was a decision she made while having all the information. Nobody tricked her into it.

"Kagome?"

Kouga's soft, confused voice pulled her out of her own thoughts. "Hm?" she said as she snapped her head back up.

She had not moved much since they had begun walking back. Something was troubling her. "I can carry you."

"Oh, no," she said waving her hands in front of her. "I'm good. Sorry, just - tired." They were maybe  _friends_  but she was not about to unload her love life on him. Especially since she knew what he would say;  _run away with me_. Yeah, no.

He nodded, but slowed down his pace regardless. It was about Inuyasha. He somehow knew it was about that damn dog. That  _friend_  thing had to work because he was tired of seeing his woman like that.

He would make her happy. Happier than she even knew she could be.

To hell with that dog.

-P-


End file.
